A pleasant surprise if you take a test drive in this car

WITH no Government
scrappage scheme and the economy slow to pick up many people are predicting a
tough year ahead for the Irish motor industry.

One thing that could save the trade in 2012 is
Triskaidekaphobia and if you haven’t a dictionary handy that big word means a
fear of the number 13. The speculation is that motorists who are due to trade
in next year will be afraid to own a car with a 13D number plate and the hope
is that these superstitious people might buy a new car in 2012 instead.

This year will see a few
new Chrysler cars on Irish roads with the Delta already here and the Ypsilon
coming later this month.

Now, if you watch
American movies you will be familiar with the name Chrysler, but on this side
of the Atlantic the brand doesn’t have a great reputation. Last week I drove
the new Chrysler Delta, which is a lovely motor, but it really is a rebranded
Lancia having been launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 2008 as the Lancia
Delta.

The Lancia brand has
been around since 1906; Chrysler began in 1925 and they are now both now
controlled by Fiat. Lancia no longer make right hand drive cars, so now we get
the Chrysler Delta, which is made in Piedimonte San Germano near Rome.

As a nation we are slow
enough when it comes to buying new brands and it could be difficult for
Chrysler to win over new customers, but I think you will be pleasantly
surprised if you take a test drive in this car. The brash front grille is
definitely very Chrysler-like, the front LED lights are very attractive and the
rear lights are different to anything I have seen before, forming an arch
shape.

When you sit in you will
be impressed with those gorgeous cream leather seats and there is oodles of
space. It reminded me a bit of the Skoda Superb; it’s that big. Admittedly the
seats could be difficult to keep clean, but that’s another day’s work. I drove
a black model and it looked great, it had a matt finish on the roof.

On the dash the controls
are well laid out and you get a few slave controls on the steering wheel, but
the steering wheel is not near as busy as the Citroen DS4 that I had the
previous week. I drove a 1.6 diesel version with 120 brake horse power and it
had plenty of power under the bonnet. At the other end the boot is very
spacious, but no spare wheel, just a repair kit. And the reversing sensors come
in handy as this is a fairly long motor.

Prices start at

?¬23,995. This is a big and
beautiful car to drive and well worth a test drive. C02 emissions are low and
fuel consumption is frugal. The one worry most people would have would be
residuals; will you be able find a buyer in what is still a fairly conservative
Irish market?