Interview: Stellantis chief design officer, Jean-Pierre Ploué on Lancia’s future

In June 2021, Stellantis announced that it’s chief design officer Jean-Pierre Ploué was to personally oversee the renaissance of the Lancia. It came as welcome news to most observers as the much-loved brand had slipped out of the limelight it held during its heyday in the 1980s with models like the Delta Integrale. Ploué, who is credited with restoring Citroën’s unique character, will have his work cut out, but Car Design News found the French designer in a confident mood.

Car Design News: Where does Lancia sit within the context of the great Italian brands?

Jean Pierre Ploué: Because of its legacy Lancia is a very special Italian brand – Vincenzo Lancia was always innovative. It began with sports and competition, but very quickly it became a brand about design, purpose, and functionality. And always with a great deal of elegance.

Together with Luca Napolitano, we decided that Lancia should enchant people. So yes, it’s innovative and it has to be technologically advanced, but eclectic. There’s always something to surprise you. And for me it’s a challenge because as you can imagine, I don’t want to design anything that looks like the work I had done previously on the French brands. I would be more than happy if Lancia is recognised as Italian, and with a specific and a unique design embedded in Italian culture.

CDN: You could argue, barring a few exceptions, there’s a homogeneity that’s kind of crept into design. Particularly, if you look at some of the work coming out of China. This is a challenge for you, I think.

JPP: It’s funny you say that – I was visiting a supplier working mainly for Chinese companies. And they were showing me designs for many Chinese brands. To be honest, it was very well done but at the end, it had no emotion. What is amazing about the European brands is this emotion, this heritage, this legacy. It speaks to your gut. In some ways, it’s much easier to rebrand a Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, DS, Citroen, than create a brand. They have a past and a future.

Of course, you can define something. You can invent something. But in the end, it’s not fun. It’s fake, I think.

CDN: So, what about the design team? How will it work?

JPP: I thought it was very important to dedicate a team to Lancia. For Fiat. For Alfa Romeo. We want to be focused. To be sharp. And I want people dedicated to the future of each brand. Each team has worked a lot on the design DNA. As you said, exploring the past, to build the future. This is the best time for a designer because you’re searching for the more unique designs, but related to the past. You know it’s amazing how some details: a line, an angle, even with new technology, it can remind you of a car of the past.

I wanted a small team because we want to go faster, and I don’t want something heavy. I want to be close to the team. I will use the best of the people we had. And then I bring in some new blood. So, it is about 10 people – I prefer to have less people, but on a very high level.

CDN: And in terms of models, what will we see?

JPP: The first car we are replacing is the Ypsilon, which is a very important car for the brand. Some people look at it, “Oh, I see some part of the Delta. I see some part of the Aurelia.” But we are not working on any, how do you say? Revival designs.

And then we will work on the C segment with a Delta-like car, which will be compact. The third car needs to be defined. But for sure, we are looking for something which will suit the Lancia brand.

CDN: I’m thinking about sort of design details, and when you think of Alfa, you think of the Scudetto. Is there an element that you can say, like a single element you could say defines a Lancia?

JPP: It’s a good question. When we started, we looked at the historic grille of the Lancia – it is quite generic except for, say, the Aurelia.

But as soon as you get to the Delta, it had an amazing front end, with this double round headlamp. Or if you talk about the Flaminia Coupé, it was kind of the same. Very normal, kind of rectangular with the logo on it. So not really unique, I would say, but at the end it was still Lancia.

With the Alfa you have the Scudetto, you know you have to work with it. You don’t question yourself. On Lancia it was more complex than that, because we don’t have this kind of unique element. But even on the Delta, with these two round headlamps. And this rectangular grill split in the middle, with a kind of a line. But you will see the way my designer has done it, it’s very modern. Very unique.

CDN: You are now custodian of a well-loved brand, which people really want to see back in a big way. Do you feel a certain amount of pressure of expectation?

JPP: I went through this exercise, to define at the beginning three different brands, as much as possible. So, in terms of design, I feel confident. And I can promise you a nice future for the brand.