We were hardly in time to write about the axing of the Lancia Flavia sedan for Europe with the appearance of only the cabrio model, when Lancia officially announced the Lancia Flavia cabriolet at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. It has obviously done so with no mention of the sedan, but the announcement confirms that the Chrysler 200 open top will be coming to Europe.

In these pics, the Lancia Flavia is looking quite good and thanks to Chrysler the brand returns to the cabrio segment. The model is 4.9 metres long with space for four adults and has a new Lancia badge upfront matched by 18-inch wheels and LED technology on the rear lights.

The soft top roof opens and shuts mechanically and has apparently been designed to store away so that the car keeps its sleek lines when cruising with the top down. The interior gets some swanky Lancia finishes with chrome trim, leather seats, multifunction steering wheel and touch screen display. In fact there will only be one Flavia cabrio model available, that is Full Optional with a 2.4-litre aspirated petrol unit with 175 hp and six-speed automatic gearbox. We’ve only got this one photo from Lancia, so we’ll have to wait for Frankfurt for more pics and details.

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When you read that about half of all vehicles sold on the European car market are diesels you understand just what it means to launch something like a sedan model without a diesel variant on the old continent - like shooting yourself in the foot. So for this reason, according to Automotive News, the Lancia-Chrysler partnership has decided to leave the Chrysler 200 in the US and bring only the convertible model to Europe as the Lancia Flavia cabriolet.

The news builds on recent reports that the Lancia Flavia project had been postponed indefinitely - or at least until the 2013 model rolled around with some added European design input. According to the ANE report, it was too expensive to develop and fit a diesel engine in the Chrysler 200. So why does the cabrio get to travel when its hardtop sister doesn’t?

The answer to that is that the Lancia Flavia cabriolet should be good looking enough to still attract customers, according to Fiat insiders. Like the difference between a sister who wears a turtle neck and the sister who goes for cleavage instead… forget the diesel, it’s all about tops off and summer motoring.

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