15.03.2004 LANCIA CONFIRM THAT THE GORGEOUS FULVIA COUPE CONCEPT WILL NOT SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY

Lancia have finally confirmed that the Fulvia concept car, which has provoked so much interest and excitement, will remain forever a concept as their will be no production version.

First seen last September when it was unveiled at the Frankfurt IAA, it caused a storm and its enthusiastic reception from the world's press was unheard of for a new Lancia in recent years.

However Lancia never touted it as anything more than a concept, created by Centro Style as a project to bring up to date the original Fulvia's ideas. Based on a Fiat Barchetta floorpan, itself nearing the end of its cycle, the recent financial difficulties of the Barchetta's chassis builder Maggiori will not have helped the issue.

Lancia's Fabrizio Longo has now let it be know that the Fulvia will not be built, commenting that it had been a long and hard decision, and taken "with a heavy heart". They, which will continue to adhere to and build upon, its 'luxury and exclusive' theme, is to concentrate firstly on returning to profitability, spearheaded by the well recieved Ypsilon, which last year accounted for 70% of the brands sales, and new compact MPV Musa, introduced in Geneva last week.

The Ypsilon, which is selling well, is presently the focus of a major advertising campaign throughout Europe. In the longer term Lancia are looking to reverse the decline in dealers and overhaul the entire sales network. The Musa meanwhile, is an upmarket take on Fiat's Idea, which offers opulent levels of finish and comfort, as well as high equipment levels, that make this new model a serious alternative to the Mercedes A-Class.

However there is no getting away from the fact that niche models like the gorgeous Fulvia coupe help to create a 'desirable' image and maybe the decision not to put this stunning prototype into production will eventually be realised to be an opportunity lost. Certainly the production possibility of this concept has provoked more correspondence to Italiaspeed than any other subject since our inception.

Meanwhile the Lybra replacement, based around the styling of the recent Maserati Buran concept, itself not particularly well received, has also been canned. Fiat feel that introducing a third new Group model into the segment, alongside the current Fiat Stilo and Alfa Romeo 147, would provoke confusion as well as creating over exposure.