Fiat has come up with a passenger version of the Doblo, which was showcased as a commercial van. The Doblo will compete with the Maruti Ertiga and Honda Mobilio.
Fiat had displayed the Doblo commercial van at the Hannover Auto Show in September this year. Now, the Italian automaker has listed the veils of a passenger version of the vehicle. Bookings for the 2015 Fiat Doblo will commence soon in Europe while deliveries are slated to begin in February 2015. The MPV will be offered in three variants – Pop, Easy and Lounge. The Pop variant gets Start & Stop button, ESC, power windows and auto locking. The mid Easy variant gets few additional features while the top variant Lounge gets air-conditioning, 16-inch alloys, parking sensors, upgraded audio with Bluetooth and USB/Aux-in connectivity and cruise control.
The Fiat Doblo isn’t exactly a good-looking vehicle. It seems Fiat designers have made the vehicle by only keeping practicality in mind. The front quarter does remind us of the Skoda Yeti though. The front fascia of the Doblo looks like it is lifted from a caravan. The high roofline significantly contributes to this. The side profile looks boxy while the rear is plain jane with only the red inserts below the rear glass breaking some monotony. The interiors of the Doblo really look good though.
Fiat is providing an option of petrol as well as diesel engines with the Doblo. The petrol engine is a 1.4-litre unit that produces 95 PS of power while the diesel engine is a 1.6-litre MultiJet 2 unit. The MultiJet 2 is offered in two states of tune – 90 PS and 105 PS. The Fiat Doblo is priced from £13,480 to £18,780 which translates to Rs. 13.27 lakhs to Rs. 18.49 lakhs. If Fiat launches it here, it should be priced from Rs. 6.5-10.5 lakhs (ex-showroom) and only then can it even think of competing with the Maruti Ertiga and Honda Mobilio.
While Maruti and Honda have established a wide sales and service, Fiat is lagging behind significantly and trying to catch up at a fast rate. Will the Fiat Doblo give some serious heat to the Maruti Ertiga and Honda Mobilio in India?
