Alfa Romeo and Lancia will return to motorsport albeit with different timing. During a round table organized in Misano on the occasion of the Italian Formula E event, Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, confirmed Alfa Romeo’s return to the world of competition. As for Lancia, the company is evaluating the best moment given that the process of relaunching this brand must be completed first.
Motorsport is part of Alfa Romeo’s DNA and therefore it will certainly return to the world of racing. At the moment, however, there are no precise timings yet and discussions are ongoing. Apparently a decision won’t be made until the end of the year. This means that we will have to wait several more months before knowing in which motorsport category the brand will return to be present. There would be several hypotheses under consideration but for the moment nothing has been decided.
The only certainty is that Alfa Romeo will return to the racing world. Tavares then added that it is still important to enter a championship at the right time given that each category lives in cycles.
Every sports series lives in cycles: a reasonable start, an expansion, an explosion, a decline and then we start again. It is essential to enter a championship at the right time.
And Lancia? The discussion is more complex. At this moment, work is underway to the relaunch of the car manufacturer. The new Ypsilon was recently debuted and before thinking about a sporting commitment you need to check that the economic growth of the automaker is enough to support it. In short, if there are no profits, it will not be possible to sustain the costs of engaging in the world of competitions.
As Tavares points out, the right order must be followed. If the brand becomes successful again then we can think about a sporting commitment. After all, there is the will and passion to bring Lancia back into motorsport and in particular in the world of rallies. The business model, however, will have to support sporting activities. It must be said that this is not the first time that there has been talk of a possible return of Lancia to the world of rallying. Luca Napolitano, CEO of the Lancia brand, made it clear a month ago that he was working on a new commitment in motorsport. All that remains is to wait for news on the return of these brands to the world of competitions.
