General Is the end in sight for the Punto...?

Currently reading:
General Is the end in sight for the Punto...?

Joined
Feb 21, 2016
Messages
39
Points
14
Location
Wiltshire
I know it has been mooted for some time that the Punto is due for replacement but nothing definitive has been confirmed by Fiat as yet. However, I have just noticed on fiat.co.uk that they have dropped the 3 door Punto in the UK.
frown.gif


It appears that you can now only order a 5-door with a choice of 2 trims and 2 engines. The configurator says that 3-door versions are only available while stocks last (I guess whatever remains unsold in the UK).

I bought my 3-door new at the start of January and I am really pleased with it. I guess it was probably one of the last 3-doors to come into the country!
 
I know it has been mooted for some time that the Punto is due for replacement but nothing definitive has been confirmed by Fiat as yet. However, I have just noticed on fiat.co.uk that they have dropped the 3 door Punto in the UK.
frown.gif


It appears that you can now only order a 5-door with a choice of 2 trims and 2 engines. The configurator says that 3-door versions are only available while stocks last (I guess whatever remains unsold in the UK).

I bought my 3-door new at the start of January and I am really pleased with it. I guess it was probably one of the last 3-doors to come into the country!

when I bought my TA in FEB 2012
"the book was closed" - for a tiny update:rolleyes:

it's possible this is happening again.., but the platform is now OLD..:eek:
 
I know it has been mooted for some time that the Punto is due for replacement but nothing definitive has been confirmed by Fiat as yet. However, I have just noticed on fiat.co.uk that they have dropped the 3 door Punto in the UK.
frown.gif


It appears that you can now only order a 5-door with a choice of 2 trims and 2 engines. The configurator says that 3-door versions are only available while stocks last (I guess whatever remains unsold in the UK).

I bought my 3-door new at the start of January and I am really pleased with it. I guess it was probably one of the last 3-doors to come into the country!

It's a shame as Fiat are usually good at creating cheap, small, fun to drive city cars, and group wide they have some cracking technology.

However the majority of manufacturers who make similar cars beat the Punto in the key areas such as fuel Economy, Performance, interior quality, after sales etc the list goes on.

In it's defense, it's based on a Platform which is around 10 years old.

I was reading Auto Express the other day and doing some number crunching the new Audi A4 with a 3.0 V6 diesel emits only 2 g/km more CO2 than the 1.4 Punto engine, and that's got an extra 200HP plus 4WD!
 
I was reading Auto Express the other day and doing some number crunching the new Audi A4 with a 3.0 V6 diesel emits only 2 g/km more CO2 than the 1.4 Punto engine, and that's got an extra 200HP plus 4WD!

Yes - but it's a diesel..:bang:

I'm sure a Lear Jet at cruising altitude isn't much worse than a t-jet:rolleyes::D

SMALL cars FIAT are / were great at - panda / uno - perfect (y)

500 - got the styling perfect so it sold in vast numbers,:cool:

bigger fiat's have ALWAYS struggled. especially in the "family" / sales rep sector.:eek:

the GP has run it's course.., we need something fresh and new.

:idea:anybody spent time in a Mito to see if the ride is any better..??
 
Well if it is on the way out, it wouldn't be a massive surprise would it!:eek:

I honestly don't think the current Punto needs all that much tweaking; it still looks great and you only have to look at the latest Corsa to see what is achievable. But I am not holding my breath!:p

I agree that the current model is STILL the best looking supermini on the market, but alas, as it wears Fiat badges, the UK market is stupidly harsh on it.

When they do launch an all new replacement for it, I seriously hope they get it right. Modern superminis tend to err towards the ugly, and a new Punto needs to stand out in order to make people take notice of Fiat once again.
 
It's not the cars with the Fiat badges, it's the dealers with the fiat badge.

If I was in a position to spend ~£10k on a new car, there is no way I would risk the shockingly poor support network and warranty from Fiat.
 
I have yet to use the aftersales service of a Fiat dealer yet, but when I purchased my Punto in January I couldn't fault the dealer. They are not my local dealer but they went above and beyond what I was expecting and nothing was too much trouble. Compare that to the service we received a year earlier from a Kia dealer when we purchased my wifes car, which was in a word, poor.

Every manufacturer can have bad dealers but fingers crossed I have found a good one.
 
Fiats official plan was a new punto by 2017 but they have yet to announce anything, and while there have been a few big motor shows already this year there isn't a squeak out of Turin.

The mk2 punto sold well right up to the end and even when they eventually stopped production (in 2012!!) there was outcry from Eastern European countries and Italy who were still lapping it up, mean while the grande sold well to start with, they inexplicably changed the name first to grande (it wasn't that much bigger) then to evo then back to punto, I think the buying public got confused and disinterested and you could buy a better spec corsa for the same or less money and still have good after sales service. To that point the corsa is still one of the best selling cars in the country.

I think when the 500L came out in the UK and flopped it disheartened fiat on the need for a B/C sector vehicle especially when they already had the 500 and 500L and while the little car sold well the big car failed to hit targets. Mean while in other parts of Europe the 500L has sold well which questions the need to make a cheaper car that competes along side it.

Without a car to replace it and no facelift or support while the corsa has just seen a major revamp it now seems almost certain that the punto is being left to die ?

They have just launched the Tipo in other countries but there is no word of it coming here, the Tipo is being sold in areas where the Palio and Punto traditionally did well so that doesn't bode well either.....

Looks like your future choice will be a 500 a 500L or a really expensive 500X

Fiat are probably due another complete badge and branding change soon anyway they don't seem to like consistency
 
Fiat have never done well in the UK compared to the rest of Europe. The UK dealerships have a very bad reputation.
 
Fiat have never done well in the UK compared to the rest of Europe. The UK dealerships have a very bad reputation.

Not entirely true. I think the old myth of "Fix It Again Tomorrow" still hangs over all Fiat's. The Corsa & Fiesta will always be the powerhouses in the UK as their dealerships are on every corner.
 
Not entirely true. I think the old myth of "Fix It Again Tomorrow" still hangs over all Fiat's. The Corsa & Fiesta will always be the powerhouses in the UK as their dealerships are on every corner.

I do more or less agree with you.

Just my opinion, but if you asked 10 random people on the street whether they thought Fiat was a reliable brand or not, I bet the majority would say no. There is an awful lot of brand snobbery in the UK, but that's not just limited to cars of course.:)

Having said that, I don't personally feel Fiat does anywhere near enough to entice buyers in, nor does it seem to have any meaningful after-sales system in place either. Improvements in both would help to increase sales, but of course the Punto will never sell as well as the Fiesta!:D
 
I'm guessing Fiat doesn't see the need to keep Punto alive anymore now the Tipo is coming as an affordable hatchback, and Panda grew a lot taller since the original Panda/Uno/Tipo line-up.
Simplifying the range is a great move for them.
I don't know about other regions, but when I look at what brand new cars are on the road here, I see a lot of Aygo/C1/108/Up!/Twingo/Panda... and also a lot of Auris/308/Golf... but I wouldn't even know how to recognise the latest Yaris or Polo, so why compete in a non-existant market when most Punto-people wouldn't mind getting a slightly bigger Tipo for the same price, or downsize to a more practical Panda and save some money while doing so?
 
Candisa: superminis are the best selling class of car in the UK. The reason you don't notice the yaris or polo is because they're typically dull vw/Toyota designs, lol! ;)

Personally, I'd actually prefer to have a supermini than a small family car.
 
I'm guessing Fiat doesn't see the need to keep Punto alive anymore now the Tipo is coming as an affordable hatchback, and Panda grew a lot taller since the original Panda/Uno/Tipo line-up.
Simplifying the range is a great move for them.
I don't know about other regions, but when I look at what brand new cars are on the road here, I see a lot of Aygo/C1/108/Up!/Twingo/Panda... and also a lot of Auris/308/Golf... but I wouldn't even know how to recognise the latest Yaris or Polo, so why compete in a non-existant market when most Punto-people wouldn't mind getting a slightly bigger Tipo for the same price, or downsize to a more practical Panda and save some money while doing so?

Well, I think the Punto will eventually get morphed into a 500-something (pick a letter other than X or L!).

I would tend to agree with puntofan01, there is definitely room for a supermini in Fiat's range (at least in the UK). But whether or not it comes to fruition is another matter altogether.
 
Back
Top