Last calendar year hasn’t been so fruitful for the Italian car maker Fiat as it saw sales drop of around 37 percent with retailing just 8575 units. Other carmakers like Hyundai, Maruti and Tata are launching new products for the Indian market whereas Fiat’s last product was Avventura which launched in October 2014. Though Fiat launched the Abarth Punto last year and now promises to launch the much awaited Jeep brand in India soon.
We all were hoping that Fiat might come up with some new products to the recently concluded Auto Expo but Punto Pure and Avventura Urban cross concept the only two we got. Despite of being in the country earliest, Fiat hasn’t able to dominate the India car market and main reason could be the absence of mass catchy products like SUV, MPV and even entry level hatchback.
The show stealer at the Fiat pavilion was the Jeep brand though Punto Pure and Avventura Urban cross concept able to grab eye balls at the Auto Expo. The Italian carmaker has unveiled the Urban Cross concept based on Avventura which itself is hatchback based crossover. The Fiat Urban cross is a sub 4m metre vehicle with dimensions standing at 3999mm in length, 1700mm width and 1500mm height.
Under the hood, it will have powerful 1.4L T-Jet petrol motor which develops 138bhp of max power@5500rpm and 210Nm of high torque between 2000-4000rpm, paired to a 5-speed manual gearbox.
The vehicle bears some radical design changes for the sporty feel such as new grille borrowed from Tipo, fresh pair of fog lamps, follow me headlamps with LED optical guide DRLs, new dual shade 17 inch alloy wheels, contrast black ORVMs with turn indicators, roof rails and panoramic sunroof which gives it a fabulous look outside. The cabin boasts of dual tone interior theme, touchscreen infotainment system with navigation and bluetooth, automatic climate control, inclinometer and compass etc.
Likely to be priced between Rs. 6.5-9 lakh (ex-showroom); when launched it will take on the likes of Volkswagen Cross Polo, Toyota Etios Cross and Hyundai i20 Active.
