[vipul_singh]

From TTAC:

Sources tell Bloomberg News that Fiat Spa will spend as much as 9 billion euros ($12 billion) over the next three years developing new models for for the European market. The Italian automaker hopes the strategy will end losses on the continent and restore drastically underutilized Italian factories to profitability. Many of the new models will be based on either the Fiat 500 subcompact or the small, low cost Panda. *A five door version of the 500 will replace the Punto. The Punto, last restyled in 2005, has long been a fixture in Fiat showrooms and as recently as 2007 it accounted for almost a third of the Fiat brand's sales in Europe


Full article:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...-next-3-years/

My take is that this is good news overall. The Punto ia way too old (launched around 2006) to be competitive. As long as there is an investment plan for new models, I am hopeful. In fact, lack of an investment plan was a big cloud over FIAT's long term viability.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by volkman10

New Fiat plan sees Punto dumped !

The Fiat Punto - long a brand staple - will be replaced by a five-door version of the 500.

http://www.just-auto.com/news/new-fi..._id140597.aspx

So, will we have a 5-door Fiat 500 (Punto replacement) selling for 6L and a 3-door Fiat 500 at 18L?

[fiat_tarun]

Well, the Punto is old now and considering the same platform has already been adopted for other 500 models (500L, 500X), this is a step in the right direction. The styling can always be worked upon and it will be interesting to see what Fiat comes up with. The 500X concepts looks lovely if you ask me.

Originally Posted by zenren

So, will we have a 5-door Fiat 500 (Punto replacement) selling for 6L and a 3-door Fiat 500 at 18L?

Common zenren, you very well know the reason the 500 sold at a high price was because it was a CBU and it isn't even on sale anymore !

[zenren]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

Well, the Punto is old now and considering the same platform has already been adopted for other 500 models (500L, 500X), this is a step in the right direction. The styling can always be worked upon and it will be interesting to see what Fiat comes up with. The 500X concepts looks lovely if you ask me.



Common zenren, you very well know the reason the 500 sold at a high price was because it was a CBU and it isn't even on sale anymore !

Aren't we all joking here?

Fiat India cannot survive the price war in India without platform sharing between a premium hatch and a sedan. Current Punto & Linea do this, though their level of success is still debatable. At least they are offered at competitive prices. With a base platform derived from 500, they may be able to make a Punto on an extended platform, but making a Linea out of it is asking a bit too much. If they cannot share the platform across hatch and sedan, its unlikely to be introduced in India and we might still be on the current Punto platform even for near future.

[rohanjf]

Fiat 500 does not share its platform with 500x any other 5-door 500. All 5-door spin-offs are modelled on Punto's platform.

Localising or assembling 500 made no sense, as the target group was extremely small. We may see 500L as the new Punto after a few years, since the underpinnings of 500L are already manufactured here.

However, with ever-tightening safety norms in Europe, manufacturers are forced to discard older platforms and build new platforms that are not only safer, but also costlier.

Let's hope at least Fiat continues to give us such safe cars, even when other manufacturers keep launching "India specific" or "South East Asia specific" or "Developing Country specific" cars.

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Fiat 500 does not share its platform with 500x any other 5-door 500. All 5-door spin-offs are modelled on Punto's platform.

However, with ever-tightening safety norms in Europe, manufacturers are forced to discard older platforms and build new platforms that are not only safer, but also costlier.

Let's hope at least Fiat continues to give us such safe cars, even when other manufacturers keep launching "India specific" or "South East Asia specific" or "Developing Country specific" cars.

Slight change here. 500L and derivatives are based on the US Wide Small platform, a variation of the Punto platform. The Small platform is used by the Punto and the Linea.

Cheers,

Jay

[volkman10]

Jeep’s India-bound mini SUV to be called Jeepster, will debut in Geneva.

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...213-2zap8.html

[selvagp]

FIAT to buy the remaining stakes in Chrysler.
Will it help it build its image in India?


http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...5-billion-deal

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Jeep’s India-bound mini SUV to be called Jeepster, will debut in Geneva.

I don't know what others feel about this, but I find this so ugly!
First of all, it looks like a "maxi-car" more than a "mini-SUV"
The rear wheel well, The front skinny tyres all these makes it uglier.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

[/left]
I don't know what others feel about this, but I find this so ugly!
First of all, it looks like a "maxi-car" more than a "mini-SUV"
The rear wheel well, The front skinny tyres all these makes it uglier.

+1. I too feel the same and it looks quite quircky to say the least. For a mini SUV and this looks if launched for Indian market will compete for the ugliest cars awards.

But Indian market is known to have made some ugly cars very successful in terms of sales.

[puchoo]

The front is a bit funny looking - from what one can see now , but i think the car looks ok from other angles including dead on side shots. What comes out finally at Geneva ofcourse one will need to wait and see but Jeep has a good design language and i think one can expect , or rather should expect , a reasonably good looking car.

[21Archer84]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

+1. I too feel the same and it looks quite quircky to say the least. For a mini SUV and this looks if launched for Indian market will compete for the ugliest cars awards.

But Indian market is known to have made some ugly cars very successful in terms of sales.

No offense but, What you see in the image is a test mule and not the intended design for the Jeepster. You should probaly wait till the Geneva show to come to conclusions on the looks front. The vehicle you see is a FIAT 500L's upperbody.

The Jeepster was shown to the employees at FIAT's Italian plant, where it'll be built and they had a very positive response. Not sure how you can expect a Jeep to have such low Ground clearance in the first place.

[hemanth.anand]

Fiat India have launched a contest on facebook.
Below is the picture.



Although I expect some KL vehicle to win this, Is this a buildup to the Abarth release hopefully later this year?

[nareshov]

No points for actual performance tunes? Only sticker jobs and wacky spoilers and tow hooks? :(

[zenren]

Originally Posted by nareshov

No points for actual performance tunes? Only sticker jobs and wacky spoilers and tow hooks? :(

Reminds me of those games where the designers run out of ideas for new levels and start a contest among the fans to 'design a level' with a promise to include the top 5 entries as part of the next update for the game.