Slated to be launched somewhere around the first week of August, the 2014 Punto has been christened as the ‘Punto Evo’ and gets comprehensive cosmetic as well as interior upgrades after a long time. While rivals like the Maruti Swift, Hyundai i20 and even the Volkswagen Polo have been posting good sales numbers, the Punto had been dragging along the sales chart with limited units being sold. Launched in 2009, this is the first comprehensive facelift to the Punto in the country and is being sighted as a resurrection for the well built hatchback by Fiat and fans alike. The Evo suffix is not new to the Punto and was added to the European version in 2009; however, was later removed in the 2012 model.
The 2014 Fiat Punto Evo has started arriving at dealerships and these recent spy shots from a dealer stockyard give a complete look at the facelift model. At first glance, one can’t help but notice the over indulgence of chrome that Fiat has embarked upon. Certainly a pleasing feature for a chrome loving nation, there is chrome all across the front grille, air-intake, fog lamp enclosures as well as the rear bumper and door handles. Despite the extended use, it still does not seem over done and gels well with the updated Avventura-ish headlights.
The tail lights too get a different arrangement, which is in-sync with the international version, while the tail gate has been revised for a cleaner appearance. The car also features smarter looking 16-inch alloy wheels, which will be available on top-end variants. On the inside, the Punto Evo borrows its dashboard from the Linea. While the outgoing model sported an all-black theme, the new dashboard features a beige-black colour scheme and visibly seems a much better place to be in. Another significant addition is that of rear AC-vents that will compliment the comfortable rear seats along with the new ambient lighting.
There have been no changes to the powertrain and the 2014 Punto Evo continues with the same 1.3-litre MultiJet diesel engine in two states of tune as well as the 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre petrol options. All engines will be paired to a 5-speed manual transmission. Out of the four scheduled launches from Fiat India, the Punto Evo is the second launch that will be followed by the Avventura as well as the Abarth 500 premium hatchback. Fiat has also been aggressively working on expanding its sales and service network across the country that should help the company sell more units of the very capable Punto.
