2012 & 2013 Lancia Sedan Reviews & Ratings

Lancia were established at the hub of the Italian motor industry, Turin, more than one hundred years ago. Since their foundation, Lancia traded as an independent, with a reputation for producing a limited range of quality cars, marked by their high levels of design and comfort. In the late nineteen sixties, Italy's giant Fiat Group took a controlling interest in the company, while allowing Lancia to continue in the same vein until today.

After the North American auto industry ... (full review continues below)

Lancia were established at the hub of the Italian motor industry, Turin, more than one hundred years ago. Since their foundation, Lancia traded as an independent, with a reputation for producing a limited range of quality cars, marked by their high levels of design and comfort. In the late nineteen sixties, Italy's giant Fiat Group took a controlling interest in the company, while allowing Lancia to continue in the same vein until today.

After the North American auto industry entered into a bit of a quagmire, in late 2008, with many of the giants on the verge of bankruptcy, Fiat stepped in and acquired a controlling interest in the Chrysler Group. The results of this ambitious move were increased coverage for the Chrysler range of vehicles in Europe with the reciprocal effect of increased awareness for Fiat and Lancia cars in North America.

Among the first signs of this new marketing collaboration in the European theater, was the launch of two vehicles, the Lancia Voyager SUV and the Lancia Thema Sedan which were, in the simplest of terms, Chryslers with a Lancia badge stuck on a revamped, typically Lancia heart shaped , chrome framed front grille.

Other than that, the Lancia Thema Sedan is a clone of Chrysler's recently launched 2011 300 sedan, a model which has been a consistent best seller in the highly competitive luxury sedan sector.

The Lancia Thema, like its Voyager sister car, will not be marketed in North America. In fact it is only likely to find itself, at least in its current format, being available in Mainland Europe only. And it has to be said that the Thema bears very little comparison to Europeans have gotten used to, over the last century, as to what a Lancia should look like both in terms of design and size. The Thema has American luxury saloon written all over it, and lacking in any of the subtle shapes and contours that have typified Lancia's over the years.

Add to that the fact that the Lancia Thema Sedan leaves a very giant footprint, at 200 inches long by 64 inches wide, a dramatic departure in dimensions from any car that Lancia have ever produced to date. There is more than enough head and leg room for five basketball players in the Thema and enough baggage space to fit a small refrigerator.

That size of car needs a big engine and Lancia /Chrysler have come up with a choice of three monsters to power the Thema. The first is a six cylinder engine versions Pentastar V6 3.6 liter petrol engine that will deliver 286 horsepower paired with an eight speed automatic transmission. The second is a turbo-diesel powered V6 3.0 liter turbo diesel engine that can be tweaked to provide two levels of formidable power, either 190 horse or 239. Both of these engines come with automatic transmission and rear wheel drive as standard.

Anyone European who looks at a car such as the Lucia Thema with a view to buying it should not be in a position where normal considerations like purchases costs, maintenance, and deprecation and fuel economy. Instead they will be looking at a car that will provide tremendous comfort, loads of power and even more prestige. Suffice it to point out that this luxury saloon comes with such a wide range of comfort and technological features that most reviewers lost count after seventy.

The Lucia Thema is a welcome arrival to the luxury sedan market and is attracting some attention as a departure from the typical lines of its main rivals from Peugeot, Citroen, Volvo, Mercedes, Audi and Saab.