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.