| | The Grande Punto from the Fiat stable is positioned as a large two box hatch. The car has been designed to represent three fundamental qualities, namely beauty, solidity and brilliance, all coupled into a terrific car that has quintessential Italian styling. Developed by Italdesign-Giugiaro along with the Fiat Style Centre, the Grande Punto stands out in the current automotive scene, not only for its size but also for the beauty of its modern elegant exterior lines which seem to be inspired by the sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Like the exterior, the interior of the Grande Punto carries forward the essence of Italian styling thanks to the quality of the materials used and the care that went into every detail. It is extremely roomy, with excellent front visibility, easy access and a large luggage compartment. Where quality is concerned, the Grande Punto is stylish and refined and comes with a great sense of solidity. What the customers get is a welcoming, plush and functional environment that is bound to excite. Available in two body styles internationally, which includes a three door version and a five door version, the Grande Punto for India will be available only in the five door version. Trim levels are yet to be decided for the Indian market, but looking at the Linea, we can expect Fiat to bring in the Active, Dynamic and Emotion versions. The Sport version might have to wait! |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | Safety has also occupied a very high pedestal in Fiat's planning of the Grande Punto. A multitude of crash tests and laborious hours of research have made it one of the safest compacts around. The Grande Punto also features a number of airbags (how many will the India spec one's get will be decided by how Fiat plans on pricing the car), three-point seat-belts with pre-tensioners and load limiters, five head-restraints and the FPS fire prevention system, all work together to make the Grande Punto a rather safe place to be. For India the Grande Punto will be offered with two engines which include the 1.2 litre FIRE engine that produces 65 BHP and the 1.3 Multijet diesel that will be tuned to churn out 75BHP. 1.3 Multijet diesel is the same engine that does duty under the hood of the Maruti Suzuki Swift DDiS, Swift Dzire DDiS, Palio Multijet, Indica Vista, Fiat 500 and the Fiat Linea-just that the engine has different states of tuning, depending on the car. It's an award winning engine and therefore its popularity, even with other manufacturers. Overall, the Grande Punto is an extremely enjoyable car and there is something in it for everyone, be it the daily commuter or the motoring enthusiast, the Punto has been built to feed that desire. Incidentally, the Grande Punto shares its platform with the Fiat Linea and this aspect also aids in the manufacturing process as both cars will be built side by side at Fiat's Ranjangaon facility. Check out : Fashion on Wheelz |