Luca di Montezemolo had reasons to be worried. Not a man to get bogged down, he took the challenge of putting Fiat back from shambles to the peak of the mountain. For this, he needed a car, a good one at that. A car that would appeal to the masses and bring in good numbers. The Grande Punto was just that.

It turned around Fiat’s fortune in a way that could be possible only in dreams. The Grande Punto is the third generation of the Punto and was launched globally in 2005. Styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Grande Punto has a beautiful body to exhibit with sloped back headlamps and muscular wheel arches which lends it a mean yet attractive look. The rear section integrates well into the bumper and the large tail lamps give added character to the overall stance of the Grande Punto.

The interior are also pleasing and compliment the overall aura of the car. The red coloured display on white dials look funky and the layout of the dash is neat. The ergonomically placed controls and knobs are within easy reach. The steering wheel sports buttons to control the audio system. The interior is airy and comfortable. Build quality is something that Fiat has always been appreciated for and the Grande Punto continues that trend. The plastics inside have a built-to-last feel to them and should age well with time.

The car is likely to offer a choice of three engines. A 1.2L and a 1.4L petrol that pump out 65 and 77 horses respectively will be joined in by a 1.3L multi-jet diesel engine that Fiat is now famed for. This engine is known for its tractable nature and delivers 88PS of power to the front wheels. Our speculation speaks that since a 1.6L motor is already on offer in the Palio Stile, something similar might be presented with the Grande Punto as well. The car will be packed with safety features like ABS and EBD, though the same cannot be said about the airbags as of now.

Entering the action-packed B segment, this car will be at war against names like the Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Getz and Chevrolet UV-A. Skoda will do its bit by making things interesting with the launch of the Fabia in this segment. The Grande Punto will roll out from the Ranjangaon facility of Fiat near Pune. The company revealed that it will have high levels of localization for the car and this should help as far as the pricing is concerned.

We suspect that the Fiat Grande Punto will be priced Rs.5 lakh onwards and might see the upper limit close to Rs.7lakh. How close are we in our guess? We’ll find out soon.