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September 07, 2005
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In order to achieve and maintain the lead in this market bracket, the Grande Punto must make a real leap forward in conceptual terms. Only a few years ago, a car with these dimensions, comfort and equipment would have been considered a 'family car', and certainly not a compact. The three winning qualities of the new model
Developed by Italdesign-Giugiaro together with the Fiat Style Centre, the styling of the Grande Punto stands out in the current automotive scene for the beauty of the exterior line, which is modern, elegant and distinctly 'Italian', a 'Mediterranean' stylistic language where the tapered rounded lines seem to be inspired by the sports cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Like the exterior, the interior of the Grande Punto represents the most evolved expression of Italian styling, thanks to the quality of the materials and the care that went into every detail. The result is a luminous, welcoming, functional environment. This is a car created to 'excite', but also to express the solidity that comes from superb quality standards. This is borne out by extremely high safety standards, attention to detail that is unusual in this market bracket, and exceptional comfort. This impression is confirmed by the car's external dimensions which put it at the peak of its category: it is 403 cm long, 168 cm wide, 149 cm high and has a wheelbase of 2.51 metres, measurements which translate into an extraordinary amount of interior roominess. The Grande Punto is clearly a car of superior quality: from the very first stages of the project, the team working on it pursued very high quality standards, drawing on a stringent engineering process, based on a very strong platform, while it applied the most advanced, innovative reliability methodologies throughout the model's development and industrialisation. And finally, the Grande Punto is agile and enjoyable to drive in all situations. A brilliance derived primarily from its engines, which combine excellent performance, low fuel consumption and absolute respect for the environment (they are all Euro 4). There are two petrol engines (the 65 bhp 1.2 8v and the new 77 bhp 1.4 8v), and four turbodiesels (the 120 and 130 bhp 1.9 Multijet, the 75 bhp 1.3 Multijet 16v and the new 90 bhp 1.3 Multijet 16v with a variable geometry turbo). Moving Passion
The communications policy planned for this original model addresses a young, dynamic public using a fresh, immediate language. One result is the 'Mr. Dot' logo, a cheerful P-shaped pictogram which changes appearance according to the situation: from a driver to a little man on skis. There are 50 possible transformations, each with a different personality, the expression of the concept of "moving passion" that lies behind the Grande Punto project: if on one hand the new model represents the passion shown by Fiat and its employees for cars, speed and racing, on the other, it is also the spirit of a customer who is attracted by the values of beauty, dynamism, colour, passion and movement. 19 versions have been created, by combining 2 body types (3 or 5 doors), 4 outfits, 6 engines, 13 body colours and 12 types of interior, all at an interesting price. The Grande Punto is also 'great' because of its price, which is almost identical to that of today's Punto with the difference that, for the same investment, customers will enjoy a car at the peak of its category with lavish, cutting-edge equipment. (Sept. 7, 2005)
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