Fiat Punto successor plans could be revived; Brand reveals 10-year-old aborted sketch Fiat recently unveiled its new 600e for the global markets. However, alongside the unveil, the Italian carmaker also showcased a sketch of an aborted project which was supposed to replace the Grande Punto hatchback 10 years ago. The reveal of the sketch hints that Fiat could be working on a successor for its now-discontinued Punto hatchback, to be introduced in the near future.
According to reports, then-FCA boss Sergio Marchionne was sceptical of the B-segment, stating it was too competitive & not profitable enough. Head of Fiat New Products, Antonio Massecesi, who was overseeing the Punto successor project back then, came up with the idea of a larger 500, which looked a lot like the 500X, which came a year later. Marchionne initially approved the car for production, but it ended up getting axed just a few months later.
The Fiat Grande Punto was using an architecture co-developed by Fiat & General Motors in 2005, and by 2013, the platform was severely outdated. Massecesi stated that a new platform would be required which would comply with the emission & safety regulations. However, when other brands refused to share the development cost of a new architecture, Fiat concluded that engineering a new platform for just one car wasn't worth it, eventually phasing out the Grande Punto by 2018.
This time around, reports suggest that Fiat can make use of the e-CMP2 platform, which already underpins multiple products across the different brands owned by parent company Stellantis. This should help Fiat bring back the Punto hatchback to its product lineup.
Source: Motor1 Link to Team-BHP news
Last edited by RahulNagaraj : 6th July 2023 at 12:24.
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