Refreshed Fiat Punto Spied in Pune
There have been a plethora of spy shots of Fiat’s facelifted hatchback floating around the internet over the last couple of months, which can only mean that the Italian maker will launch the car very soon. In fact, Fiat has announced that they will enter the Nepalese market in September with its entire India line-up (essentially the Punto and Linea) with the addition of the Avventura. As the Italian car maker will manufacture the models in India and sell them in Nepal, we can be assured that both the Punto facelift and the Avventura crossover will be launched in India before then. Fiat is also offering discounts on the current Punto, which leads us to believe that they are clearing stock for the new model.
From the spy shots, we see that India will not get the Punto Evo on-sale in Europe, and the refreshed Punto will carry styling cues from the more butch Avventura. The headlamps, especially, take after the crossover and the grille between the headlights seems thinner, though the same shape as the Avventura. The redesigned front bumper houses the fog lamp cluster which seem borrowed from the 2014 Linea. The rear looks more or less the same as the current Punto, though the tail lamps are slightly elongated while the bumper has been tweaked as well.
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The Euro-spec Punto evo won’t come to India any time soon[/caption]
Spy shots of the interiors have revealed that borrowing from its sedan sibling isn’t a bad idea. The 2015 Punto will get the 2014 Linea’s two-tone dashboard, the same steering with audio controls mounted and the new centre console layout.
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Besides engine options, it seems that the Punto and Avventura will have a similar face[/caption]
While engine options are expected to remain the same (the 74 and 90bhp 1.3 MultiJet diesel, the 68bhp 1.2 FIRE petrol and the 89bhp 1.4 FIRE petrol), we hope that Fiat will give us the new Punto with the 112bhp 1.4-litre T-Jet engine. Or since Fiat’s performance brand Abarth has finally entered the country, maybe the 500 Abarth could share its 134bhp 1.4-litre MultiAir engine with the Punto. Even the 112bhp turbo-petrol borrowed from the Linea T-Jet would give this hatch a power-to-weight ratio of close to 100bhp/ton making it India’s first actual hot-hatch.
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Tweaked rear bumper and new alloys lend a muscled look[/caption]
The Avventura is also expected to share the same engines with the Punto and again, the 1.4-litre T-Jet engine would give the heavier crossover sibling some extra grunt; considering the 68bhp 1.2-litre FIRE engine feels sluggish on the standard Punto.
After the launch of the Punto and the Avventura, Fiat will continue with its plan to introduce another 4 models before the end of this financial year and considerably increase its service network.
