While Maruti Suzuki still continues to reign the hatchback market in India, the premium hatchbacks from other European (and Korean) carmakers are slowly and steadily setting up a firm base in India. One of the front runners of this league is the FIAT Grande Punto – a hatchback that was solely developed with the intention of driving FIAT out of its recent global downturn; and at the same time, maintain the emotion that one relates to a FIAT product. In India, the Punto has completed an year of existence and though it hasn’t exactly been a high roller for the company, it has established itself as a niche product in India’s hatchback circus. The Punto is available in the country with three engine options – 1.2 / 1.4-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel. However, with the competition around the Punto increasing by the day, and players like the VW Polo and the Hyundai i20 making life harder than ever, FIAT has decided to launch another variant – the much talked about, gruntier, torqueier, more powerful ‘Punto 90hp’. And guess what, we have driven that car already! Read on to know what our impressions are about the new Punto variant…
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