A new way of understanding the car, an unprecedented expression of Cassina design. This is the Lancia Ypsilon Limited Edition Cassina, the eagerly awaited Ypsilon model that seals an extraordinary collaboration between the two Italian brands. It evolves the Turin-based manufacturer’s hatchback, looking to the concept of the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE: the result is a model that is gritty and at the same time elegant, rich in style, outside and inside, thanks to the contribution of Cassina, which worked hand in hand with the Turin Style Centre, producing the interiors.
100% electric and available in 1906 units (a tribute to the year in which the carmaker was founded), the new Lancia Ypsilon Edizione Limitata Cassina “transcends the traditional boundaries of the car, it is to all intents and purposes design culture”, said Luca Napolitano, CEO of the Lancia brand, at the official presentation, which took place inside the Cassina showroom in Via Durini, Milan. “It is a project that reflects the soul of Cassina,” continued the CEO, “which brings the tradition of Italian homes inside: we have recreated the idea of living and that home feeling.
The seats, therefore, were intended as real blue velvet armchairs (a reinterpretation of the historical Lancia cloth) characterised by the ‘Cannelloni’ weave with double stitching; the floor mats like soft rugs. The centrepiece of this concept is the multifunctional table, the first one in a car, which bears the Cassina logo together with the numbering imprinted on the blue leather of the top cover (made of bio-based plastic) allowing wireless charging of smartphones. Every detail has been studied to create the right atmosphere of comfort and elegance, from the selection of materials (50% recycled and recyclable) to the use of the blue colour that runs from the exterior (blending with the black of the alloy wheels with dark diamonds, and without chrome) to the interior, right down to the inserts in the door panels and dashboard.
“I am a great car enthusiast, so I am particularly enthusiastic about this project, which is unique in its kind,” commented Luca Fuso, managing director of Cassina. “Together with the Lancia team, we have been able to create a new language and bring the wellness of the house inside a car. Innovation also translates into added functionality and so the new Lancia Ypsilon becomes the first car equipped with S.A.L.A. infotainment, an acronym for Sound, Air, Light and Augmentation, a technology developed by Lancia to personalise audio, air conditioning and lighting.
“On board like at home”, is how Luca Napolitano sums up the concept of the new Lancia Ypsilon Edizione Limitata Cassina, which has seen the two brands collaborate and dialogue on shared values: “research, respect for the past, tradition, attention to environmental issues”. A synergy that is not limited to the new car, but continues in further expressions: furniture designed by Cassina will in fact be placed inside Lancia points of sale, contributing to the renewal of the identity of the brand’s distribution network.