2012 & 2013 Lancia Hatchback Reviews & Ratings

Lancia were one of the first car makers in Italy. Opening their doors for the first time in 1906, in the auto manufacturing center of Turin, Lancia remained independent before becoming part of the massive Fiat Group in 1969. Fiat saw in Lancia the opportunity to push themselves up the ladder into the mid -sized luxury car market, and their acquisition was to prove to be a wise one, with Lancia continuing to capture their share of the up market finish compact to medium range sector with... (full review continues below)

Lancia were one of the first car makers in Italy. Opening their doors for the first time in 1906, in the auto manufacturing center of Turin, Lancia remained independent before becoming part of the massive Fiat Group in 1969. Fiat saw in Lancia the opportunity to push themselves up the ladder into the mid -sized luxury car market, and their acquisition was to prove to be a wise one, with Lancia continuing to capture their share of the up market finish compact to medium range sector without affecting Fiat's market share in any way .

One of the most popular vehicles in the Lancia range for 2012 is the Musa Hatchback. The Musa, that takes its title from Lancia's long running traditions of using letters from the Greek alphabet to name its models, is a classic five door hatchback.

the first Lancia Musa Hatchback, a compact five door, was launched in 2004 at the Geneva Motor Show, bearing strong similarities to the Ypsilon coupe especially on the front end. The Musa still retains the same well rounded and exotic styling when the Series Two was released in 2007 with a distinctive chrome framed grille, and oversized headlights. The rear end of the Musa Hatchback also looks excitingly Italian as you can get, sloping downwards at a deceptive angle from the roof to the rear bumper.

The Lancia Musa Hatchback comes with a wide choice of engines, ranging from two petrol powered 1.4 liter engines, the starter being a 77 horsepower and the top ender being packing 95 horsepower. There are three diesel engines on the Lancia shelf also to choose from, starting with a 1.3 liter Multijet70 horsepower, another 1.3 Multijet, although this one is turbo-diesel and capable of generating 90 horsepower. The most powerful diesel engine that can be fitted in the Lancia Musa Hatchback is a 1.9 liter Multijet that will produce 100 horsepower, more than enough for a vehicle of this size and weight. Dependant on the engine specified, the Musa's transmission will be either manual or automatic.

Without taking anything away from Lancia's obvious expertise at building cars, but, boy can they make them look good. It is often difficult to remember that the Musa Hatchback is only a compact, 159 inches long by 67 inches wide, when you look at how much has been put into it. Particularly worthy of mention, however is the Musa's full length panoramic sunroof, which comes as standard.

The Lancia Musa Hatchback's four passengers, (five if really crammed in) will benefit from all the comforts, technological or otherwise, that Lancia can come up with., that take in no less than five choices of trims.

Safety features abound on the 2012 Lancia Musa Hatchback taking in front and side airbags, anti lock disc brakes among others.

There is no shortage of competition in the compact hatchback market and with Lancia having no chance of competing on price, then in order to be in the running they have to provide quality and unique design. This is something that they have succeeded in achieving in the face of such strong opposition from market leaders such as Subaru, Peugeot, Toyota, Citroen, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia, Renault, Ford and Fiat among a few others.