Posts for 'Fiat' Category

Fiat has finally launched its Grande Punto on the Indian roads. The car will be manufactured at Fiat’s state -of-the-art Ranjangaon plant near Pune.Grande Punto, is popular in Italy, Germany and Brazil and having sold over 16-lakh units globally.

Fiat India Automobiles Ltd (FIAL) CEO Rajeev Kapoor said: “The launch of the Grande Punto marks a new milestone for Fiat in India as we bring the quintessentially Italian design to Indian shores.”

The 1.2-litre petrol variant of Grande Punto has been priced at Rs. 3.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), at the same time, three other petrol variants with 1.4-litre engines are priced between Rs. 4.66 lakh and Rs. 5.61 lakh.

Its four variants with 1.3-litre multijet diesel engines are priced between Rs. 4.85 lakh and Rs. 6.11 lakh.The company plans to export Grande Punto and also sedan Linea from this month-end, starting from South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Fiat SpA reportedly is in talks with Chrysler LLC on a partnership that could give Chrysler access to Fiat’s small-car technology.In return, Fiat, which has been interested in returning to the U.S. market, would have access to Chrysler’s plants and dealer network, according to Automotive News and the Wall Street Journal, both of which cite unnamed sources. Chrysler declined to comment on the matter. 

“Chrysler LLC as a matter of policy … does not confirm or disclose the nature of its private business meetings,” the company said in a statement. “Beyond those partnerships and alliances already announced, Chrysler has no further announcements to make at this time.”

Industry observers said the move could quickly give Chrysler a small-car lineup at a time when its domestic competitors already have announced plans to introduce new small-car models.

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In Brazil, the Fiat Grande Punto has been elected Carro do Ano 2008 by a panel of 37 journalists from the country’s national specialist press. The Grande Punto scored 235 compared with the Citroen C4’s 208 points, Nissan Sentra’s 152, Renault Logan’s 146 and the Chevrolet Vectra GT’s 134.

The Fiat brand also brought home the AUTOBEST 2008 award with its Linea model. The title’s international media jury was made up of specialist journalists from 15 European countries including Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Romania, Russia and Turkey, demonstrating the versatile C-segment saloon’s cosmopolitan appeal.

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Despite steep hike in oil prices and interest rates, the market for cars didn't show signs of slowing down in the year gone by. With Tata and Renault gearing up to woo the budget segment, and several luxury-class carmakers too eyeing the Indian market, the story looks to continue on the same line for the new year.

India remains one of the few markets in the world experiencing double digit growth as was seen in calendar 2007. What was heartening is that despite the dollar plummeting, prices virtually doubling for a barrel of crude and interest rates trying to do their best to persuade punters to hold on to their cash, the automotive purchase put-off didn't happen in as strong a force as many expected.

Much of this can be laid down to the robust economy and the fact that Maruti Udyog really stepped on the gas with strong, focused offerings for the largest selling segments. Let me quantify the latter by also inferring those segments which are now poised for exponential growth: the large hatchback class in which the Suzuki Swift reigns supreme. 2007 was the year we saw the large hatchbacks try and grab a foot-hold with the Chevrolet U-VA and the Hyundai Getz 1.1 add-ing critical mass to the Swift. The budget stalwart like the Tata Indica experienced a bit of a slowdown coming close as it is to the end of its product cycle and a new model sorely needed to jazz things up, both visually and dynamically.

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Fiat has had difficulty in breaking through the glass ceiling above supermini sized cars. It isn't alone here - some specialist Japanese carmakers concentrate on smaller cars and some other marques around the world also do poorly in family size car sales.However, Fiat must accept responsibility for major errors with their bigger cars in the past - poor build quality, reliability, and some price marketing policies have damaged the residuals and brand value for models above supermini size. You've got to go Ben Dunne style and try to openly wipe the slate clean. In the motoring arena, last week, Renault admitted errors with their previous Lagunas and clearly defined that there is no comparison with the much higher quality new model.In these situations, you must put your hands up to a well educated and discerning car buying public. Mistakes from the past must be openly admitted to and a line drawn in the sand. Then with the air cleared, you move on!With that all said, Fiat’s new 5-door Bravo, which has just arrived in Ireland, certainly appears to be a fine car with many excellent power options. As previously referred to, this new range marks the company’s return to the largest segment of our new car market. Cars in this class account for over 30 per cent of the total new car sales. Within this sector, hatchbacks are far more popular than saloons with 3-door hatchbacks accounting for 10 per cent of sales and 5 door hatchbacks, such as the new Bravo, account for 53 per cent of segment sales.Eight versions of the new 5-door Bravo are available from launch, with a choice of four engine sizes (1.4 16v 90 bhp, 1.4 16v T-jet 150 bhp, 1.9 8v M-jet 120 bhp, 1.9 16v M-jet 150 bhp) and four trim levels (Active, Dynamic, Emotion, Sport). Three further versions using the sparkling 120 bhp T-jet engines will join the range in November.

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There was a 50th anniversary party in Turin this week. That's the whole of Turin, you understand. The city simply stopped for 24 hours while shops, bars, clubs and cafés remained open for the city's inhabitants as well as the 10,000 visitors and 1,000 journalists who arrived in town for a Fiat bash known in the motor business as "Mesa Cantata".Fiat CinquecentoAll that drinking and dancing celebrated one little car. Dante Giacosa's new Fiat 500, or Cinquecento Nuova, was first presented to the Italian premier 50 years ago on July 4, 1957. Like Britain's Mini, Germany's Beetle and France's 2CV, the Cinquecento was the Italian "People's Car".

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The New Fiat Bravo (2007)

Features:

Make: Fiat
Model: Bravo (2007)
Body Design: Hatchback
Engine: 1.4-litre turbo, petrol
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Like Cars: Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and VW Golf
Main Rivals: Citroen C4, Peugeot 308 and Renault Megane.
Description:
Fiat are being realistic, and recently being aggressive with its pricing to attract buyers into their showrooms, adding the Bravo to start looking like an inviting choice in the family hatchback sector.

The new Fiat 500 is an icon go-go car of the week

After a considerably long one-off preview to the public, Fiat has finally confirmed the new 500’s launch date as July 4, 2007. The Fiat 500’s official unveiling will now take place in Turin, with sales starting immediately afterwards and the Italian manufacturer has also revealed some technical details for the first time. The Fiat 500’s compact measurements are: 335cm long, 165cm wide, 149cm tall, and has finally confirmed the engine line-up.

Although the price of new Fiat 500 at around £8,000, going up to £11,000 for the top spec 1.4 is rather awkward, yet considering its onerous features, one gets reason and consoled. The amazing abilities of the new Fiat 500 include 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre turbo-diesel, but the 1.4 16v petrol from the Panda 100hp is also going straight into this tiny cute sport car. The New Fiat 500 that shares its platform with the next generation Ford Ka, also promises five or six-speed standard manual gearboxes.

Fiat broadens the Panda’s horizon with this rambling range topper. Although 100bhp isn’t a huge power output today, yet the lightweight Panda puts it to good use. Inexpensive and fun, the new Fiat Version Panda 100hp has nimble performance, chunky looks, and diminished proportions. It features:
Place: Hertfordshire, UK
Price: £9,995
Available: Now
The Panda 100HP sounds even more when you consider that supermini-sized pocket-rockets are delivering nearly 200bhp. But the Panda is a fair bit smaller and weighs only 975kg, so the lusty 1.4-litre engine delivers enough to enable it to scrabble to 62mph in 9.5 seconds. The standard Panda is an enjoyable steer in standard guise and what this range-topper represents is simply fabulous. With decent discount the Fiat Panda at £9,995 is not expensive either.