By
ALISTAIR KENNEDY
26 June 2006
The giant Italian auto maker Fiat is about to make its
long-anticipated return to the Australian passenger car market with the
release of its three- and five-door Punto hatchbacks.
While the Punto name will be new to many
Australians, it has been a major success for Fiat with worldwide sales
in excess of six million since its launch in 1993. The latest Punto
model, launched in 2005, is currently the biggest-selling car in Europe.
Indeed, even the name Fiat is likely to
be new to some of the younger people at whom the Punto will be targeted
because the company withdrew from the Australian car market in the late
1980s.
Punto’s styling is simple yet
attractive. From the rear it is tall and square in the modern fashion
but is distinctive because the tail, brake and turning lights all
mounted on the car’s shoulder leaving the rear panel bare.
In profile the front part of the car has
a slight wedge shape not unlike that used by its close relative, Alfa
Romeo, both coming out of the famous Italdesign studio.
Interior space in the Punto is
surprisingly good given the car’s relatively small exterior
dimensions. There’s plenty of front headroom in the standard car
although our front seat passenger had some problems as an optional
sunroof had been fitted, stealing some space. There’s also reasonable
rear leg and headroom.
As with most recent releases from Europe
there is a strong push towards diesel power with three of the four Punto
engines on offer being turbo-diesel units, one of 1.3 litres, the other
two being 1.9 litres but with different levels of tune. The only petrol
engine has a capacity of 1.4 litres.
Three Punto models are offered, Dynamic,
Emotion and Sport. Dynamic is available with either the 1.3-litre diesel
or 1.4-litre petrol engine, Emotion with the 88 kW version of the
1.9-litre diesel and Sport with the 96 kW 1.9-litre diesel.
We’ve had initial test drives of both
the 1.3-litre diesel Punto Dynamic and the 1.9-litre Sport. First
impression of the smaller engine was that it had some noticeable turbo
lag until it got past about 2500 rpm but once we got used to this and
kept the revs up its performance was satisfactory. The problem didn’t
occur in the 96 kW Sport which was sharp and nimble although the
suspension was a bit on the harsh side on some of Sydney’s less than
perfect roads.
Fuel economy will be a major selling
point for the Punto. The 1.3-litre diesel, under the ADR 81/01 test, was
assessed at just 4.6 litres per 100 kilometres in combined city/highway
testing (5.9 L/100km in the city and 3.9 on the highway).
None of the other four models went over
6.0 L/100km. As always we’ll be doing our own testing when we take the
cars for an extended test and will see how they shape up in real-life
driving. But the Punto is clearly an economical little car.
Punto comes well-equipped with all models
having air conditioning, cruise control, height-adjustable driver’s
seat, trip computer, power windows and mirrors, remote central locking,
CD player with steering wheel audio controls, ABS brakes with electronic
brake distribution and front, and side and curtain airbags.
These latter safety features contribute
to the Punto receiving a five-star European NCAP crash rating.
The Emotion and Sport models also get
electronic stability control, hill holder, front foglights and alloy
wheels (15-inch on the Emotion, 17-inch on the Sport). Sport also has
chromed exhaust pipe, rear spoiler, body-coloured sideskirts and leather
trim on the steering wheel and gear lever.
Punto goes on sale on 1 July. Prices
start at $19,990 for the 1.4-litre Dynamic five-door, the 1.3-litre
turbo diesel Dynamic five-door sells for $22,990, and both the 1.9-litre
turbo diesel Emotion five-door and 1.9-litre Sport three-door for
$27,990.
These prices are for manual transmission
(five-speed in the petrol model and six-speed in each of the diesels).
An automated manual transmission, known as Dual Logic, will available
later this year in the Dynamic models.
Despite its huge overseas sales, Fiat’s
Australian importer, Ateco Automotive, has set a relatively modest sales
target of 600 units during the second half of 2006 (half of them
diesels), rising to 1400 for 2007 (60 per cent diesel).
Although full details are not yet being
given to the press, a number of other Fiat models will be added
progressively to the Australian range.
