Fiat showcased the spruced up iconic 500 Abarth at the 2014 Auto Expo held last month and speculations were rife that the car will be locally assembled at Fiat India’s plant near Pune. However the company declined the speculations and confirmed that the 500 Abarth will be brought to our shores as a completely built unit.
Earlier this week Fiat launched the updated Linea in the country, the first of the four products scheduled to be launched by the automaker in 2014. Fiat will also introduce the updated Grande Punto facelift that was caught testing last month, the Avventura compact SUV showcased at the Auto Expo and the 500 Abarth by the end of this year. Fiat used to import the regular 500 as a CBU and will now import the Abarth kit for the 500 along with the car. However, the company also said that the Abarth kit will go into a locally produced car, hinting at the introduction of the Grande Punto Abarth in the country (finally!).
The Punto Abarth will be a specially tuned version of the regular Punto and will be targeted towards the enthusiast. Expect the car to be priced at around Rs. 12-13 lakhs (on-road) making it the hottest hatchback in its segment. While details are scarce on the plans of the Punto Abarth, we expect Fiat to make an official announcement in the coming months. The company’s next major vehicle to be launched in the market will be the Avventura compact SUV based on the Punto, which seemed a potent package going by first looks.
The 500 Abarth on the other hand, should be introduced at a price tag of around Rs. 25 lakhs and makes the iconic small wonder track ready. Fiat is also concentrating on expanding its dealerships and service network in the country, since its separation from ex-partner Tata Motors. The company has chartered aggressive plans with the introduction of all-new models in the future to make it big in the ever growing (not currently) Indian automotive industry.
Source – NDTV Auto
