Fiat has announced that the new Punto Evo will be launched in India on August 5. The Punto Evo is a facelifted version of the Punto hatchback and has been spotted completely undisguised quite a few times now. Fiat had started despatching the Punto Evo to dealerships a few weeks ago and deliveries are expected to commence immediately after the car’s launch.
The Punto Evo gets some comprehensive updates in the exteriors as well as the interiors. While the silhouette has remained the same, the front fascia has been completely revamped along the lines of the Avventura concept, which was unveiled at the 2014 Delhi Auto Expo. The front bumper has been modified to accommodate the new grille, wrap-around headlamps and the fog lamps. Interiors of the Punto Evo will be identical to the one seen in the new Linea, which was also recently updated with a facelift.
The Punto Evo is expected to retain the current car’s powertrain options, which include two petrols and one diesel. The petrol variants will be powered by a 1.2-litre and a 1.4-litre unit, churning out 67bhp and 89bhp respectively.
The diesel variants of the Punto Evo will employ the tried and tested 1.3-litre MultiJet engine which is expected to be available in two states of tune. The engine in its standard guise will produce 75bhp while the tuned up version making 90bhp. All these engines will send power to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.
Competition in the B+ Segment is heating up as Volkswagen recently launched the new Polo with some visual updates and a new engine. Even Hyundai is working on a new i20 which will be launched before the end of this year. At such a time, Fiat, which has a relatively small presence in India, will have to work out a good marketing and pricing strategy in order to increase the exposure of the Punto Evo.
