Spied - 2014 Fiat Punto facelift begins testing in India
Fiat India has commenced road trials of the 2014 Fiat Punto facelift. Camouflaged prototypes were spotted in the city of Pune, close to Fiat India's manufacturing base, by Team BHP member 'karan561'.
Launched in international markets in 2005 as the Grande Punto, the first facelift was carried out in 2010 (this version was called the Punto Evo) while a second minor cosmetic refresh was market-launched in 2012 (Fiat removed the suffix/prefix from the name with this version). In India however, Fiat continues to sell the 2005 model year version.
The 2012 model year Punto facelift sports a new front bumper with redesigned foglights and grille, while the mirror arrangement of the headlights is tweaked for a sporty look. While the rear end may look similar to the current 2005 Punto, the taillight clusters are revised and the reflectors are repositioned.
Interior changes are reserved to a new center console and instrument cluster (similar to the 2014 Linea facelift).
Fiat introduced their 'DNA' system on the 2012 Punto in which the driver could alter the response of the car by toggling through three preset modes - Dynamic, Normal and Automatic. We doubt if this feature would be extended to India though.
Fiat India plans to launch at least four products this year. The first of these will be the 2014 Linea facelift which will be introduced in the market early next month. Post that, we should see the Abarth 500 and the Punto-based Avventura enter our market by the middle or end of this year. Towards the same time will also see the launch of the refreshed Punto.
[Images from Team BHP]