It’s difficult to miss a car like the Grande Punto even if you happen not to be a die-hard Fiat fan. From those Linea-esque headlamps to the very pronounced front grille, not to mention regular test – car zebra paint, the Punto’s you see in the picture did stick out like a sore thumb in peak hour Bangalore traffic. The three Punto’s were part of a countrywide road-test for reliability and shake-down in the real Indian driving conditions. As a car in the large hatchback category, the Punto is fairly well sized and is as large as the Indica Vista. This means that the Punto is roomy on the inside and the beige interiors certainly help give the interiors a pleasant and airy ambience.
Although it wasn’t clear as to what engines these test mules were running, it will most probably share engines with its bigger sibling, the Linea. This means we’ll probably see the 1.3 Multijet diesel and the 1.4 litre petrol motor to start with. And with the usual solid Fiat build quality, fantastic ride and handling package and robust engines the Punto does have what it takes to get Fiat India back on a roll, and from what we’ve seen, the wait won’t be too long. We’re also secretly praying that they decide to launch the ‘hot’ Abarth version sometime for the die-hard Fiat fans. That would be a real treat!
