The rebirth of Lancia will start with a new Peugeot e-208 based Ypsilon including various high-spec features.
The 2024 Lancia Ypsilon has begun public testing, giving us our first indication of what to expect from the Italian brand’s first new model in a decade. Due to be revealed in February next year, the forthcoming supermini is already promising to bring high-design and luxury features in the supermini class, rivalling the new MINI Cooper Electric in the process.
Underneath the heavy camouflage of the test car, we expect the exterior design to take lots of cues from the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE concept. This will most likely be highlighted by a three-element daytime running light up front, and a productionised interpretation of the concept’s layered rear end with circular rear lights.
The new Ypsilon won’t, however, differ wildly from its Stellantis group cousins like the Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa in terms of proportions, with a similar set of dimensions as governed by the use of the shared CMP platform.
Inside the cabin we expect there will be distinctive design touches, with Lancia already teasing the interior design that can be partially seen in these spy images. Two large displays are visible, but underneath the central touchscreen is a unique circular platform that looks to include a wireless charging pad.
Lancia
In the previously-released teaser picture, this section is also finished in a high-end leather and embossed with the Cassina special edition logo. Cassina is the limited-run first edition variant of the Ypsilon due to be revealed alongside the full range next year.
Under the skin, the new Lancia Ypsilon will share its fundamental underpinnings with the Peugeot 208 and Corsa. It will be available with both petrol and all-electric powertrain options, and in the case of the all-electric models, will probably share technical specifications with other e-CMP products – with up to 400km of range from the higher-spec 51kWh model. Beyond this, we expect the combustion-models to also share their powertrains with the Peugeot and Corsa.
The Ypsilon will be the only new-era Lancia model to be offered with a combustion engine option, the next two models in the pipeline due to be EV-only.