Fiat has announced the 20th anniversary of the Grande Punto hatchback along with the attainment of manufacturing 9 million units across the world, coincidentally both events happens in the same month. The European market was the first to get the Punto as a replacement for the dated Uno in 1993. The exquisitely designed Punto had also won the European car of the year award in 1995, designed by the world known Italian automotive designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Fiat had also launched a convertible version of the Punto in 90’s which was the cheapest convertible offered in the European market at that time. The current Punto is the third generation model and offers the option to choose between 3-door and 5-door versions in the international market. The car is loaded with the comfort and safety features like engine start and stop button, 7 airbags, hill assist and the navigation system on-board. However these features are not available on the Indian model.
The Fiat Punto is available with three engine options, 1.2-litre petrol, 1.4-litre perol and the praise worthy 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine, with two power outputs of 75 BHP and 90 BHP respectively. Although the Fiat Multijet engine has been powering a wide range of hatchbacks on Indian roads like the Maruti Suzuki Swift, MPV segment leader Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and the recently launched Chevrolet Enjoy, the Punto is still an undesirable hatchback because of the mediocre after sales service and low brand image.
However Fiat is working on a war basis in establishing the brand name and has planned to open hundred dealerships by the end of 2013. The company will also launch the performance oriented Abarth Punto Evo which is powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine that produces the mind blowing power of 180 BHP and the freaking torque of 270 Nm (Indian version might be offered with a different set of tune).
