Fiat Grande Punto - aggressively priced!

Pardon the extremely casual and prompt expression of what can only be described as superlative joy, but "WHAT"?!? We did say the Grande Punto would be priced somewhere in the Rs 5-6 lakh territory, but quite frankly and based on recent car launch trends we did expect Fiat India to do a big blunder and price the Grande Punto exorbitantly high. Well, Fiat, we are humbled. And overjoyed! For once, the Maruti Suzuki Swift has some real competition on its hands.

Let's start off with the excise special 1.2 FIRE Grande Punto. With a price tag of Rs 3.99 lakh this engine will be available with only an 'Active' variant. As far as other big hatches are concerned, the Indica Vista 1.2 Safire is from Rs 3.39-3.85 lakh, the Chevrolet U-VA is at Rs 3.87-5.07 lakh and the Hyundai i20 is between Rs 4.79-5.81 lakh. The freshly launched Ritz from Suzuki is priced between Rs 3.9-4.8 lakh while the ultra-premium Jazz with the 1.2i-VTEC engine is at Rs 6.98-7.33 lakh. The Jazz apart, Fiat has priced its small petrol warrior right in the meaty part of the 1.2 litre hatchback segment.

Moving on to the bigger 1.4 litre FIRE engine, it will be available in two variants - starting at Rs 4.66-5.01 lakh and another Rs 60,000 for the options pack on the Emotion variant. The only 'real' rival to the 1.4 Grande Punto is the Suzuki Swift - with its 1.3 litre petrol engined car costing anywhere between Rs 3.99-5.15 lakh. While the Getz Prime is also sold with a 1.3, it is a pretty old model now in light of the competition. Nonetheless it can be yours for Rs 4.09-4.59 lakh. Again, the Grande Puntp is bang in the middle of the competition's price range. The way we see it, Fiat has embarked on a two pronged attack - with the 1.2 Punto pulling away customers from the Indica Vista and i20 while the 1.4 Punto starts attacking the Swift and Ritz. Expect the Hyundai i10 Kappa to suffer slightly as well - especially as far as the top end versions are concerned owing to the Punto's superb space!

On the diesel front, the Punto costs between Rs 4.85-5.56 lakh and another Rs 60,000 more for the options pack on the Emotion variant. This should take on the Indica Vista Quadrajet head on with a tag of Rs 4.44-4.73 lakh. Maruti's Swift and Ritz diesel variants cost between Rs 4.65-5.01 lakh. While the Grande Punto is clearly more expensive than both Marutis, it has the advantage of a whole lot more space and fresher, cuter looks which increases exponentially with the options pack installed.

We haven't seen very aggressive pricing strategy in car launches in recent times but looks like Fiat has broken that norm and gone all ahead full! The Grande Punto is a nice car to drive - no matter whether you're behind the wheel of the petrol or the diesel variant. Expect some sales chart turn-arounds soon!