Since quite sometime Indians have been waiting for the new Punto. Fiat Punto has not been much of a success here and therefore the company too seems to be a little slow with its work on Punto variants here. It recently launched a sporting variant of Punto in United Kingdom which was the top end model variant for the country. Now, Fiat has launched a new Sports variant of Punto in India as well. But sadly, this variant is merely incorporating cosmetic upgrades and no changes have been made to the engine specs. So all Punto fans who have been waiting for a high performance version, looks like the wait is still on.
Fiat has been manufacturing Punto since 1993. Punto is a super mini car with Fiat Uno as its predecessor. In the year 1995, Punto became the European car of the year. The first gen model was terminated in the year 1999 as the second gen model drove in as Fiat Punto Classic which was on sale till 2010. The 3rd gen model was launched in the year 2005 with the tag of Fiat Grande Punto. Its facelifted version was named as Punto Evo in 2009. In the last year, Evo was given another facelift and it was renamed as Punto.
The Indian version of Punto Sports was unveiled in Bengaluru at the Fiat Caffe. This 2013 model is a limited edition offering only cosmetic upgrades, just like the Punto Sport 2012. This new Sports variant endorses a Sport badge, roof spoiler, door sills which have been Punto branded, Sport badged floor mats showing red stitching, sporty pedal, body decals and a chrome coated exhaust tip.
This variant will be offered in 2 colour schemes which are the Exotica Red and Pearl White. Both the variants will showcase a black contrast roof. The White Pearl Punto Sport shows ORVMs painted in red while the Exotica Red Punto Sport shows ORVMs painted in black.
Apart from this, the car is similar to a regular Punto, carrying same standard features. This features include Fire Prevention System ( FPS), Dual front air bags, immobilizer with rolling code, Blue and Me technology, Anti lock Braking System, Climate control, speed sensitive volume as well as an audio remote control.
The car is equipped with the famous 1.3 Multijet diesel engine offering an output of 93 PS. The engine will offer a maximum torque of 209 Nm along with a 5 speed manual transmission. The car has a fuel efficiency of 20.5 km/ liter, as certified by ARAI.
Some Fiat enthusiasts, according to the company, desire to fit their cars with sporty accessories. This is the basic idea behind this Sport edition. Therefore, existing Punto owners can buy the Sports accessories pack independently for Rs 22,000 and convert their Punto into an updated Sports Punto. The 2013 Fiat Sport Punto will cost an enthusiast a total of Rs 7,60,048.
With the launch of trendsetters like Ford EcoSport and Honda Amaze, cars like Polo, Vista and Punto have lost their position in the B+ segment considerably.
