Fiat Grande Punto
The Fiat Grande Punto is a supermini car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 2005 to 2018. It is the third generation in the series of the Fiat Punto, and was announced in August 2005, and launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
In 2009, the Grande Punto became an entry level model sold alongside the facelifted, higher spec Punto Evo. In 2012, both were replaced by a revised model, called simply Punto, thus resurrecting the model name of its predecessor. It is manufactured in Italy, in Brazil and in India.
Grande Punto (2005–2012)
The third generation Fiat to bear the name Punto, codenamed Project 199, the Grande Punto was unveiled at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show and went on sale later that year. Styled by Giugiaro, the car is based on the GM Fiat Small platform.Whilst the model shares some of its name with the previous Punto, a large number of its components are new, including a new chassis and body shell.
The engines are the Fiat 1.2 8v Fire, a new 1.4 8v Fire and the 1.4 16v StarJet. Four MultiJet diesel engines are also available: two 1.3 16v units and two 1.9 with and, all of them with diesel particulate filter. The 1.9 diesel was replaced with the new 1.6 MultiJet starting the end of 2008.
All the engines are Euro IV compliant. In 2007, a new 1.4 16v T-Jet turbocharged petrol engine,, became available. At the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, Fiat introduced an Abarth version by Abarth & C S.p.A.. It was branded as an Abarth rather than Fiat.
The car's nose, headlights and front grill look reminiscent of the Maserati Coupé.
Non European Markets
In Australia, Fiat introduced the Grande Punto in July 2006, sold only as the Punto; it is the first Fiat to be sold in Australia since 1989. In 2009, the Punto was discontinued in Australia, due to slow sales. The car was reintroduced in 2013 after Fiat began factory distribution in Australia, the car was repriced at a much lower price, that was more in keeping with its rivals. In September 2015, the Punto was once again pulled from the Australian market due to slow sales.It was launched in Mexico in November 2006. The Grande Punto is placed above the Fiat Palio in the Mexican Fiat car lineup. Initially it was sold with the 1.4 16v StarJet engine with six speed manual gearbox in five door Dynamic and three door Sport trims. In December 2007, the 1.4 16v T-Jet variant was launched.
The Italian made Grande Punto has already been launched in Chile and the Dominican Republic in petrol and diesel versions. The Grande Punto also went on sale in South Africa in 2006, replacing the previous generation.
In the rest of South America, the Brazilian built Grande Punto was launched in August 2007. Codenamed Project 310, it is produced in the factory of Betim, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The chassis is an adaptation of the Fiat Palio, a lower cost compact. Levels of safety were not maintained, but the ride comfort is said to be the same.
The five door version is the only one available in the Brazilian line, and there are no plans for a two-door version. The engines available at launch were the 1.4 Fire 8v and the 1.8 Ecotec-Family 1 X18XE engine that comes from GM-Fiat/Powertrain, and later the 1.4 Fire 16v TurboJet, also available for the Linea.
For the model of 2011, there were added the new E.TorQ engines 1.6 16v and 1.8 16v. Produced by Fiat Powertrain Technologies, they were based on the discontinued Tritec engines. All non Turbo petrol models produced in Brazil are flex-fuel.
The Grande Punto was launched in India during the Delhi Auto Expo in January 2008, with sales starting in June 2009. The Punto for the market of India is manufactured by the Fiat Tata Motors joint venture Fiat India Automobiles Ltd in a new plant in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra.
The Indian Grande Punto was based on the same 310 project of the Brazilian Punto. In August 2014, Fiat launched a facelifted Punto Evo based on Fiat Avventura style with new front fascia, new front and rear LED lights and new interior.
A related sedan car, the Fiat Linea, was launched in the beginning of 2007 to replace the ageing Fiat Marea. It is built on an extended version of the Grande Punto's chassis, with a total length of, making it part of the superior small family car segment.
Safety
The Grande Punto was awarded with five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test for passenger protection, and three stars certification for pedestrian safety. The most powerful engines have electronic stability program and anti slip regulation fitted as standard, and it is an optional extra on some of the lower powered engines.However, in a later test in December 2017, the car was retested with a zero star rating by Euro NCAP, receiving 51% for adult occupants, 43% for child occupant, 52% for pedestrian and 0% for safety assist. One of the given reasons for this is the fact that the third generation Punto was launched in 2005, making the car a twelve year old model, whose safety standards were never actually updated.
Abarth Grande Punto (2007–2010)
The first car from the newly created Fiat owned Abarth & C. S.p.A, the Abarth Grande Punto differs significantly from its donor car.Initially the Abarth Grande Punto was released with a 150 PS 1.4 turbo engine, but from 2008, there was available an Essesse kit, which could be installed at official Abarth service centres rather than in the factory. Amongst various refinements included uprated brakes and suspension, the Essesse kit provided an uprated power output of.
Punto Evo (2009–2012)
The Punto Evo, a facelift version of the Grande Punto, was presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It has two new engines, a 1.3 L second generation Multijet diesel and a 1.4 L petrol engine with the MultiAir technology. It also features a new navigation system integrated to the Blue&Me system called Blue&Me–TomTom.Abarth Punto Evo (2010–2015)
The Abarth Punto Evo was shown at 2010 Geneva Motor Show. It has a MultiAir Turbo inline-four engine. The top speed is and acceleration from 0 to takes 7.5 seconds.A new Esseesse version was released in 2011, which was an optional upgrade that improved performance, with a 0– time of 7.3 seconds. The Abarth Punto Evo was discontinued in 2015, after slow sales.
Punto (2012–2018)
Fiat introduced the 2012 Punto in September 2011 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, as a facelifted version of the Punto Evo that re introduced the Punto nomenclature. Since 2015 only five door version was available in Europe.In June 2016, Fiat introduced the new Techno Pack with the 5” touchscreen infotainment system and cruise control. Production of the Punto ended on 7 August 2018, with no direct successor being announced. The last Punto assembled in Melfi was a red five door model.
Engines
The 2012 Punto was available with two new engines: the 0.9 L TwinAir turbo petrol, with two cylinders and, and the new 1.3 L MultiJet II diesel, with Start&Stop air technology, and CO2 emissions reduced to 90 g/km. The new engines did not replace the previous engines.The 2012 Punto had updated front and rear bumper clips along with new alloy wheels. The interior is also updated with new fabrics and a revised Blue&Me system.
Punto Evo (India, 2014–2018)
Fiat India gave the Punto Evo an extensive facelift in August 2014. The facelift consisted of large, swept back headlamps, a new grille and chrome inserts, whilst the rear of the car received LED taillamps from its European twin, and the dashboard from the European car. In August 2015, Fiat launched in India the Abarth brand, imported from Poland the Abarth 595 Competizione and the locally produced Abarth Punto, based on the 310-Punto five door.Indian Abarth Punto come with a 1.4 Turbojet engine with and new sport kit for exterior and interior including revised Abarth badge and retuned chassis. Transmission is a five speed manual. Production in India ended in November 2018, together with the Abarth and Adventure versions. As a result, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles decided to withdraw the Fiat brand from the Indian market, leaving space to the brand of Jeep.