Fiat Punto's new model teased ahead of Auto Expo 2016

Ford India released a teaser image of a new Punto hatchback model with the unveiling scheduled at Auto Expo 2016 starting from 3 February. A closer look to the teaser image suggests the model showcased is the pre-facelift Punto.

That gives flesh to the rumour of Fiat launching the original Punto as Punto Pure. Fiat launched the Punto Evo — the facelifted version of the Grande Punto — in August 2014. Some units of the previous Punto are reportedly left with the dealers. The new launch is will primarily sell these units with a new name.

A previous report said the Punto Pure would be available in three trims — Active, Dynamic and Emotion, with the Emotion being the top-spec variant. The Punto Pure will be powered by the same powertrains of the original Punto. Under the hood, the diesel model of the car will pack the 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine, which churns out power of 75bhp and torque of 197Nm. The petrol unit will be 1.2 and 1.4-litre engines, which generate 68bhp and 96Nm, and 90bhp and 115Nm, respectively. All the engines will come coupled to five-speed manual transmission. The original Punto Sport with the 90bhp setup of the diesel multijet engine is also expected, but will be limited to a small number of units.

The 2014-made Punto Pure will get huge discounts when launched. Just before the launch of Punto Evo, Fiat sold the original Punto with discounts of up to Rs 50,000. Hence, it is safe to assume the Punto Pure will be cheaper by Rs 50,000 or Rs 1 lakh.