Goodbye Linea, Hello Fiat Cronos!

Fiat has finally announced that it will unveil a new sedan in Argentina next year. Called the Cronos, the new sedan will replace the ageing Linea and will primarily cater to the South American market. The Cronos will be based on the Fiat Argo hatchback which made its global debut in Brazil this year.

As seen on the test mules, the Cronos is expected to share its styling and equipment list with the hatchback. To differentiate it from the Argo, it might get a slightly reworked front end. The cabin of both cars are expected to be similar. However, we expect the Cronos to be more spacious as it is likely to be longer than its hatchback sibling.

Under the bonnet, the Cronos is likely to be sold with the same set of engine as the Argo - a 1.0-litre, 1.3-litre and 1.8-litre flex-fuel engines producing 72PS, 101PS and 135PS of power respectively. These engines will be offered with a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

When it goes on sale in the South American car market sometime next year, the Fiat Cronos will compete against sedans like the Honda City, Hyundai Verna and the upcoming Volkswagen Virtus (second-gen Vento).

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So will the Argo and the Cronos ever make it to India? Well, it makes great sense for Fiat to bring the duo to our shores, especially when you consider the fact that the Punto and the Linea haven’t received any major updates since they were launched about a decade ago. So far, Fiat India hasn’t made any announcement on whether they will bring the car to India or not. But let’s hope they do bring it here in an attempt to revive their market share in the country.