Lorenzo Ramaciotti to head Chrysler and Lancia design

Lorenzo Ramaciotti, current head of design at Fiat Group, has been tasked with leading the design of future Chrysler and Lancia products in a bid to more than double the sales figures of the newly collaborated brands.

The 63-year-old former Pininfarina designer – credited to some of the most beautiful Italian machinery of the modern era – has been asked by Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, to create a common styling language for the two brands that wouldn't look out of place in Detroit or Milan.

Ramaciotti has made it clear that badge-engineering isn't going to be the future for the two brands and is hoping to inject a unique, but global flavor, into the two brands.

In an attempt to strike this desired global appeal and hit sales target of 800,000 units by 2014, studios in Detroit and Turin are competing to develop the unique, trans-Atlantic design language.

Despite Fiat SpA's desire to amalgamate the visual identity of the two brands, it has also made clear that the rest of its European and American portfolios will retain their own individual and unique identities.

The cross-pollination of Lancia and Chrysler models first came to light at the 2011 Geneva motor show, with Chrysler 200, 300 and Town & Country models appearing on the Lancia stand, much to our disappointment.

To confuse matters even further, the UK will sell right-hand drive versions of the Lancia Ypsilon and Delta models badged as Chryslers, following the withdrawl of the Italian brand from the market in 1994.

Ramaciotti began his career with Pininfarina after graduating from Politecnico di Torino with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1972. Following this, he was appointed General Manager of Pininfarina Studi e Ricerche in early 1988 and later became Managing Director and CEO of Pininfarina Ricerca and Sviluppo S.p.A. in 2002.

The first project for which Ramaciotti is credited full responsibility was the Ferrari 456 GT, while he also had a hand in the Maserati Quattroporte and Gran Turismo, as well as Ferrari's 550 Maranello, 360 Modena, Enzo, F430 and 612 Scaglietti.

Following retirement from Pininfarina in 2005, Ramaciotti was lured back to the automotive industry by Fiat. In 2007 he was appointed head of design within the Fiat Group, a role which saw him responsible for all brands within the Fiat Group portfolio – Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia and Maserati.

By John O'Brien