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Fiat's big hatch the Grande Punto was launched in India yesterday at a mouth watering price of Rs. 3.99 lakh onwards (ex-showroom Delhi). The Punto's 85% local content has enabled Fiat to price it attractively and make a stron bid at garnering market share in the already crowded segment. The Grande Punto is being made at Fiat's new facility at Ranjangaon near Pune. Launched with a 1.2 litre petrol, 1.4 litre petrol and a 1.3 litre Multijet diesel the Punto's price ranges from Rs. 3.99 lakh for the base 1.2 litre model to Rs. 6.11 lakh for the top of the line diesel variant.

Fiat hopes to sell 2000-2500 units of the Punto each month and garner a 11-12% market share. It's Ranjangaon facility has an annual production capacity of 2,00,000 cars. Fiat is making a strong comeback with the recently launched Linea sedan and now the very capabale Punto hatchback.

Toyota on Thursday launched a kitted out Sport variant for the Corolla Altis. Aimed at a younger audience the Altis Sport features cosmetic enhancements including aerodynamic front and rear bumper spoilers, side skirts, headlamp garnish and a rear spoiler with an integrated LED light. Sadly there are no engine or technical upgrades aimed at improving performance and holding true to the 'Sport' badge.

On the inside the Corolla Altis Sport gets new dual tone seat fabric and wood finish rear cup holders. The Sport is a limited edition and Toyota intends to sell 300 units priced at Rs 11.35 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) each.

General Motors India has rolled out the LPG variant of it's micro car the Chevrolet Spark in the Indian market. The Spark is GM's bread and butter model here and the LPG variant is expected to make it more appealing to budget conscious buyers. The LPG Chevrolet Spark is priced at Rs 3.52 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Audi's versatile new Q5 SUV has been launched in the Indian market today. The relatively compact SUV (as compared to the gigantic Q7) goes on sale across Audi dealership in the country. The Q5 comes with two engine options: a 211 bhp 2.0 litre TFSI and a 240 bhp 3.0 litre TDI diesel. Both models come equipped with Audi's famed quattro permanent all-wheel drive. While the petrol takes 7.2 seconds to sprint from 0-100 km/h the diesel does it in just 6.5 seconds. Audi has proven again that diesels can be fast and economical too.

Fiat India Automobiles Ltd., an equal joint venture between Fiat SpA and Tata Motors Ltd. has confirmed on Tuesday that it will finally roll out the Grande Punto premium hatchback in the Indian market on 17th June' 09. The company had postponed the Punto's launch as it wanted to focus on the recently launched Linea sedan, which has been selling well thanks to brilliant packaging, good price and a focused marketing initiative.

Fiat will be looking at redeeming itself in the large hatchback category with the new Grande Punto which by all means appears to be a promising car. One could think of the Punto as the modern day Palio. Like the Linea the Punto will be offered with both petrol and diesel engine options and will be produced at Fiat's new factory at Ranjangaon, Maharashtra. The Punto is expected to be attractively priced in the range of Rs. 4.5-5.5 lakh thanks to almost 85% localisation of parts. Fiat has also been constantly improving it's after sales support to cater to buyers of the new Linea and Punto.

The car's design is courtesy ‘Car Designer of the Century’ – Giorgetto Giugiaro which will be one of it's strongest selling points apart from solid build and robust engineering. The Grande Punto is also a safe hatchback with 5-Star Euro Ncap safety rating behind it. The Punto will compete with the Skoda Fabia, Hyundai i20 and the to be launched Honda Jazz.

Finally, Toyota has decided launch the oil burning Prado in the Indian market. The diesel Land Cruiser Prado launches in India on 9th June' 09 and will be powered by a 4.5 litre V8 engine which belts out a decent 282 bhp and most importantly 662 Nm of road churning torque. The engine will be mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with 4-wheel drive ofcourse. The diesel engine is likely to improve the Prado's off-road performance while economising on the wallet draining running costs of the petrol.

Just like the petrol Prado the diesel would also be imported as a CBU from the company's plant in Japan. The made in Japan SUV would set you back by Rs. 45,00,000 - Rs. 48,00,000 (ex-showroom). The big price puts the Toyota in competition of European SUVs like the Porsche Cayanne, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Volkswagen Toureg and the Audi Q7. At this price point it may face difficulty in clocking decent sales especially as it does not have the snob value of the others.