Italian marque Lancia will launch three new electric-only cars by 2028, with a focus on the European premium market, and has previewed their design with the Pura concept.
Shown today at the Lancia Design Day as a piece of floating art, rather than a physical car, the concept will shape the design of the new Ypsilon, the rebooted Lancia Delta and an as yet unnamed flagship.
The concept marks “a new era” for the brand, Lancia CEO Luca Napolitano said, and shows how the brand will look “for the next 100 years”.
The design “vision” reveals a modernisation of the classic Lancia T-shape Calice grille, now created with three LED bars “to express our electric future”. At the rear, circular, hollow tail-lights – which take inspiration from the iconic Lancia Stratos rally racer – are joined by a new Lancia nameplate.
“It is timeless, durable, unique,” said head designer Jean-Pierre Ploué. “Our designs will be built with iconic [and pure] shapes like the circle, square and triangle.”
This rear design will be used first on the new Ypsilon, due to be launched in 2024 as an EV successor to the current Italy-only supermini. It is likely to be based on parent company Stellantis’s STLA Small electric platform, also used by the Peugeot e-208 and Vauxhall Corsa Electric.
The Ypsilon will lead the charge for a new wave of Lancia vehicles as it becomes a pure-electric brand by 2028. No timeline for the arrival of the other two vehicles has been announced yet.
Napolitano previously told Autocar that Lancia will focus on small, compact and flagship models that will be “in line with a tradition that made Lancias recognisable all over the world for their elegance and modernity”.