The Fiat Punto is one of those models that have gone down in the history of the automotive sector. The first and second generation of him set the pace for many of his rivals to follow as he shone in many ways. Everyone looked to him to replicate his strengths and by the end of his business life they did. Not surprisingly, throughout the time it was for sale it occupied at the top of the sales charts in almost all of Europe for several years.
The problem was in FCA Automobiles, things got complicated and the management of the relay of the last Point choked them. In fact, the latest generation lasted on sale for no less than 13 years, which is a record for a model in its segment, since the average is around 6 or 7 years. Still, the possibility of the Point coming back to life has always been on the table and Fiat in fact he worked on it. The proof is this single teaser.
The Fiat Punto was to be replaced by a larger, premium version of the 500ā¦
Taking advantage of the official launch of the new Fiat 600, the Turin house has published this teaser. In it they show that they had in mind to update the Point based on the reborn 500. In this way, if their plans had gone as they wanted, their urban segment B would have "mutated" into a kind of 500 larger with five doors and with higher aspirations than its direct rivals Clio or Fiesta. And if it had seen the light, it would have had its audience...
If you look closely at the teaser that Fiat has published, we can see that this hypothetical Punto was related to the original 500 and 500X which came later. The basic format of its circular optics, the hood, the wheel arches or the lines that define the side came later to the 500X. This is not the case with the roof line because, being smaller, the arc that it defines is more pronounced. There is no view from behind, although you don't have to be a lynx to understand the resemblance...
But the accounts did not work out for FCA Automobiles and they had to abort the project...
With everything, even though the Fiat 500+ (which is what the successor to the Punto would have been called) was more attractive and climbed a commercial step, never saw the light of day. The reasons for this are known and in fact recurring. The now extinct FCA Automobiles did not get the bills because they had to take full charge of the development of this model. Especially since they couldn't use the Punto platform that they were selling at that time because it was a veteran...
At the time, Sergio Marchionne approved the project but had doubts about its profitability. Then the urban niche was already giving profitability problems and after starting the development work it was cancelled. The costs associated with the development of the platform and the impossibility of extending synergies in the group it was enough for them to cancel it. The result came in 2016 in the form of the 500X based on the Small Wide architecture.
It was throughout the year 2018 when Fiat began to say goodbye to the Punto. It reduced its range to the maximum and later restricted its sale to a handful of countries. Today it is not manufactured but has an indirect successor in the new 600 that will surely give the brand great joy. Above all because for its development it has relied on the Stellantis organ bank that it shares with the now extinct Groupe PSA. Either way, it's sad...
Source - Fiat
