Fiat has launched the Abarth Punto Evo in India at Rs 9.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). This is one of the first few performance hatchbacks in the mass market, powered by a 1.4-litre T-Jet engine producing 145bhp and 212Nm of torque.
The Abarth Punto Evo is the second car from the performance division of the Italian brand after the recently launched 595 Competizione. The performance version is based on the standard Punto Evo, but gets both mechanical and cosmetic updates.
The exterior changes include the new sporty paint scheme with decals and 16-inch scorpion pincer alloy wheels. The Fiat logo on the car has been replaced by the scorpion of Abarth. The interior also looks sporty with the all-black colour theme and racing pedals.
While there are a couple of hatchbacks under Rs 10 lakh that produce over 100bhp, the Abarth Punto has the highest power rating among them and is also the only one to be offered with a five-speed manual transmission. The car has been lowered by 20mm and the suspension setup has been retuned to optimise performance. To provide additional braking power, the hot hatch also gets all four disc brakes.
The Abarth Punto is available in pearl white and hip hop black colours and competes with the Volkswagen Polo GT TSI and the Ford Figo automatic in the Indian market.
