Fiat has considered an aggressive product onslaught for the Australian market planning about 11 new or relaunches in the next two years. The two most important cars would be the Fiat Panda and the Punto. The Fiat Punto was discontinued in the Australian continent in 2010. The Punto to be launched in Australia would be badged Grande Punto which would be a facelifted version of the current generation Punto. The ‘Abarth Evo Supersport’ version of the Punto should also be made available by the end of the year.
The Grande Punto for the Australian market could be exported from India enabling Fiat India to utilize its production capacity to the maximum. Fiat has plans to make India an export hub of right-hand drive cars and the Punto might very well be the start. Most of the exports could be automatic versions and of course right-hand drive. So there is a possibility a few of those Automatic Punto’s could be diverted for the Indian markets too. That should definitely add up to the excitement in the Indian market about another hatchback getting an automatic transmission.
The Fiat Punto was first launched in 2005 and Fiat acknowledges that they were at first not very concerned about bringing back a car that old. But the Italian company had the vision of showcasing their hot hatchback as a revived, fully-equipped yet value for money and affordable car for the Australians where the Punto will be positioned at the lower end of the light car market. The engine options could very well be the Multijet 1.9-litre, 130 BHP diesel for the top-end Sport variant and also the 90 BHP, 1.3-litre diesel engine and possibly the 1.4-litre petrol heart.
