Fiat India's CEO Rajeev Kapoor told IndianAutosBlog.com four weeks back that the company will work on facelifts of its current range, without putting a date on it. He categorically stated that 2012 will be reserved exclusively for the MY2012 Punto and Linea to penetrate the market.
Fiat is working on a new retail strategy, which once in place, can leave the product planning team to get creative. Through stand-alone dealer outlets (setup by Tata Motors dealers across 20 cities), Fiat can sell products without any distraction or cannibalization.
Fiat engineers meanwhile in Europe are testing the facelift of the Linea for a launch in late 2012. This model is likely to make it to India next year. Indian Autos Blog readers already know that the Linea and Dodge Dart are not relatives. The Dart is developed for Dodge to put the grab the market share of Toyota and Honda in the America's C-Segment market.
On the 2013 Linea, one can see a new grille with widely spaced horizontal slats. The Fiat badge moves upwards, V-Shaped lower intakes, bigger housing for foglights, new rear bumper and boot lid, and new wheel caps are visible inclusions.
The WorldCarFans report states Fiat is mulling the inclusion of the 1.4-liter Multi-air engine on the Linea facelift. This is Fiat's first cosmetic surgery on the Linea since its launch in 2007.
[Source - WorldCarFans.com]
