Punto has been a hugely successful product throughout the 1990s, receiving a vast range of accolades in the process, including the Car of the Year award in 1995. Throughout all this time Punto has been Europe's best-selling car in its class, and in 1997 it was, in absolute terms, the best-selling car in Europe.

However, changes in the requirements and expectations of increasingly demanding customers, and rapid progress in the range of products offered by the competition, have created a new competitive environment which Fiat Auto is now addressing with new Punto. It went on sale in European markets during September, and goes on sale here as a 16-version range following a UK public debut at the London Motor Show.

Punto's soft lines have been reviewed in the light of changes in car design, and Fiat Style Centre's re-interpretation has combined the original Punto's rounded and enveloping shape with the modernity of broken or interrupted lines, which run along the profiles of the new vehicle, emphasising its strong, dynamic and unquestionably modern look.

However, changes are not confined to style. New Punto is an all-new car with a wealth of innovative features and solutions resulting from a careful assessment of customer requirements which began in the early stages of the design work.

One of the ways in which specific customer requirements have been satisfied is the different styling given to 3 and 5-door versions. The 3-door version has a dynamic and sporty look, while the 5-door is more refined and provides greater comfort and luggage space - in fact, the best passenger space coefficient (86.4%) and the largest luggage compartment (297 litres) in the class.

New Punto is also designed to deliver a high degree of functionality by making intelligent use of the interior - to satisfy customer requirements. More rational use of all available spaces provides the opportunity to have large glove compartment which, rather than being designed to store specific objects, can hold all kinds of ordinary bits and pieces, such as keys, mobile phones, pens, etc. Five-door ELX versions offer a grand total of 26 storage compartments. Another of new Punto's strong characteristics is attention to detail. Such as:

• a facility to operate the electric windows after the key has been taken out of the ignition;
• an intelligent windscreen wiper mechanism, which is activated automatically immediately after windscreen washer fluid is sprayed;
• a standard equipment follow-me-home system, which permits the headlights to remain on after the car has been locked, to shed light on a parking area and make the route to the front door safer - a notable boon for female drivers;
• a trip computer, which provides useful information about the journey, such as average speed, travel time from departure, and fuel economy.

Furthermore new Punto is fitted with standard equipment Dualdrive programmable electric power steering. Unlike the hydraulic type, the new system offers two different user-selectable steering settings:

• the first is suitable for driving around town and car parks, and therefore reduces to a minimum the amount of effort required to steer the wheels
• the second is suitable for all other driving conditions where greater steering sensitivity is required. New Punto is currently the only vehicle in its class to offer electric power steering with two operating modes.

Among other safety systems, there are side airbags and three rear seat headrests as well as centre rear seat three-point safety belts. An Isofix system is also available to allow child car seats to be fitted more easily and safely.

New Punto can be ordered with five engine options: three petrol (1242cc 8v, 60 bhp - 1242cc 16v 80 bhp - 1747cc 16v 130 bhp) and two diesel (1910cc 60 bhp normally aspirated, and 1910cc 80 bhp JTD), all of which are characterised by notably high levels of power and torque at comparatively low RPM, low noise and reduced fuel consumption.

The 1910cc JTD engine is the most sophisticated of the two diesel versions. Thanks to innovative technology it guarantees very low consumption - 57 mpg in the combined cycle - and excellent performance. Currently, new Punto is the only vehicle in its segment to offer a common rail turbo diesel option.

New Punto also offers new technology in this market segment as regards automatic gearboxes. Speedgear versions have an innovative electronically controlled automatic (CVT) gearbox providing the driver with totally assisted gear changes, (like a traditional automatic gearbox), as well as management of individual ratios, (like a manual gearbox), with sequential gear ratio selection. Currently, new Punto is the only vehicle in its class to offer state-of-the-art ECVT transmission that can also be used as a sequential manual gearbox.

Designed & hosted by caint.com