Fiat India after the small tiff between Tata have gone on a single way through their own showrooms will have tough times as the company has very less offerings to the buyers, two to be specific both of which look the same – The Punto and the Linea both of which are doing no good for Fiat. If this trend continues it would take Fiat back to their old days and they will finally have to make an exit. In an desperate attempt to enter the market again with a new product Fiat is planning the ‘Panda’ for India. The Fiat Panda has a history of 30 years, back in 1980 Panda has been a major break through for Fiat and it sold like hot cakes.
Following the first gen, the second generation Panda made its debut in 2003 which also did a decent job for Fiat and most importantly it set a base for Fiat 500. At Frankfurt Fiat showcased the third and the latest version of the Panda which is expected to make its Indian debut in mid-2012. With Panda, Fiat will enter the mass market which is pretty much dominated by the Maruti Suzuki camp. Looking at the Panda from the exterior itself it looks much better than any of the Maruti cars in its segment. Inside the car the whole setup and buttons look perfect and refreshing new. Under the hood there are not less than six engine option out of which we can expect one petrol and one diesel engine to make its way in India.
All powerplants will be offered at launch with a five-speed manual gearbox, with a semiautomatic “Dualogic” becoming an choice later. In 2012, an obstacle detection system that operates below 30 km/h and can automatically apply the brakes if the driver doesn’t intervene will also become available. The Nuova Panda will be available in three trim levels, 10 body colors and four different interiors, subsequent in 600 possible different combinations. Production will commence in November at Fiat’s Naples factory.
