Fiat India aims to go big in 2014

Fiat seems to be taking an aggressive approach for 2014, with quite a few car launches planned for this year. With just modest sales figures, the Indian car market hasn’t been too kind to the Italian car maker. Fiat wants to change this and establish itself as a leading car manufacturer here. This started with the announcement of its next three-year plan last September, along with setting up a wide and independent dealership network. Given below are a few cars we can expect from the Italian marquee’s stable in 2014.

2013 had seen quite a few facelifts for the Linea, and another one is expected this year. The new Linea has been for long spotted testing on Indian roads and is set for a late-February or an early-March launch. The 2014 Linea will replace the current-generation sedan and will be sold alongside the Classic variant. A new 1.6-litre Multijet diesel engine is set to be introduced which will generate 105bhp and 320 Nm of torque. This sedan will go up against the Hyundai Verna, Ford Fiesta, Maruti-Suzuki SX4 and Volkswagen Vento.

For the European market, Fiat plans to replace its ageing Punto B-segment hatchback with a new five-door member of the 500 family. This doesn’t seem to be the case in India, with Fiat planning to launch the Punto Evo, a complete makeover for the hatch, around April.

Also expected is a rugged-looking version of the Punto, which is nothing but the Punto with redesigned side-skirts bumpers. Set to be called ‘Cross Punto’, Fiat has made no effort to hide the fact that this car will be pitted against the Volkswagen Cross Polo.

Another launch that is eagerly expected is that of Chrysler’s Jeep range of SUVs. For now, two SUVs are planned to go on sale, the Wrangler and the Grand Cherokee and are to be launched in January and February respectively. While the former is a rugged, no-nonsense off-roader, the later is a premium SUV which will go up against the likes of Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Audi Q7 and the BMW X5.

Abarth, Fiat’s performance-arm, is expected to hit our shores with the Punto Abarth in June. Fiat plans to locally assemble the car, so we can expect quite an aggressive pricing for the hot hatch. 

Besides these cars, Fiat has been working on two compact SUVs based on the platform of its concept, the 500X. While one of them will get the Fiat badging, the other will be a Jeep, with some speculations doing rounds about it being named as ‘Jeepster’.

Source : MotorBeam