Fiat Punto

Fiat Punto at a glance

Generations compared

The first car built the most, and each later generation sold fewer. Italian sales show the same trend: 375,159 Puntos in the peak year of 1997, 224,722 in 2007 and only 21,302 in 2018.

First generation (176), 1993–1999

The Punto replaced the Uno. Giugiaro's design started life as a 1990 proposal for Renault's X57 project, which later became the Clio. Fiat announced the car in September 1993, and the UK saw it at the London Motorfair that October. In 1994 the design won Giugiaro the Compasso d'Oro award.

The range included three- and five-door hatchbacks, a three-door van and a Cabrio. Bertone built the Cabrio to a Giugiaro design from April 1994 to June 1999, about 55,000 in all; the SX had a manual roof and the ELX an electric one. Wikipedia notes it was one of the cheapest open cars of its time. Front suspension used MacPherson struts and the rear trailing arms.

The GT was the fast one: 0–100 km/h in 7.9 seconds and over 200 km/h. Its power fell in two steps, to 98 kW in 1995 and 96 kW in 1997. Other variants were the six-speed Punto 6Speed, the Selecta with a CVT and the economy-focused ED.

Second generation (188), 1999–2010

The second Punto appeared at the Frankfurt show in September 1999. For Fiat's centenary it carried the round Fiat badge at the front. The rear suspension changed to a torsion beam, the cabin was redesigned, and Dualdrive electric power steering arrived. Pininfarina styled the Fiat Wish, a hardtop convertible concept based on this car.

A 2003 facelift brought new styling and engines and moved the round badge to the tailgate. The five-millionth Punto was built at the start of 2003, and the six-millionth left the Melfi plant on 1 June 2005.

The 188 outlived its replacement. As the Punto Classic it stayed in production next to the Grande Punto until November 2010 in Italy. In Serbia, Zastava built it under licence from 2005, first as the Zastava 10; after Fiat took control in 2008 it became the Fiat Punto Classic again in March 2009.

Third generation (199): Grande Punto, Punto Evo and Punto

The Grande Punto was shown in Frankfurt in 2005, again styled by Giugiaro and Italdesign. It was about 20 cm longer than its predecessors and used the Small platform developed with General Motors, shared with the fourth-generation Opel Corsa. The Alfa Romeo MiTo, shown in 2008, was also based on it.

In September 2009 the Punto Evo followed, with a new front end, rear lights and interior. It introduced the 1.4 MultiAir turbo engine. At the Frankfurt show of September 2011 Fiat revealed another facelift and dropped the "Evo" name; German Wikipedia dates its launch to January 2012.

Production in Europe stopped in August 2018 without a direct successor. Wikipedia EN gives 7 August, Wikipedia DE 11 August. Fiat's Indian joint venture with Tata built the Punto until November 2018, and Brazil had its own Grande Punto version from 2007.

Abarth and rally versions

The Grande Punto Abarth of 2007 was the first car of the Fiat-owned Abarth & C. company. It had 114 kW (155 PS) and reached 100 km/h in 8.2 seconds. The Punto Evo Abarth of 2010 used the MultiAir engine with 121 kW (165 PS); an Esseesse kit raised it to 132 kW (180 PS) and cut the 0–100 km/h time to 7.5 seconds. The Abarth Punto Evo was dropped in 2015.

In motorsport, the Grande Punto Super 2000 Abarth won the 2006 Intercontinental Rally Challenge with Giandomenico Basso. More on the scorpion brand is in our history of Abarth.

Safety: five stars in 2005, zero in 2017

Euro NCAP tested the Grande Punto in 2005 and gave it five stars for adult occupant protection and three for pedestrian protection. Twelve years later Euro NCAP tested it again under its 2017 protocol. In December 2017 it scored 51 % for adult occupants, 43 % for children, 52 % for pedestrians and 0 % for safety assist, which meant zero stars overall. Buyers comparing a 2017 or 2018 Punto with newer superminis should keep this result in mind.

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