Indian Autos Blog readers, Shree Kale, Ambar Kale and Aditya Vaidya, spotted the 2014 Fiat Punto facelift and the Punto-based Avventura crossover near Pune recently, where Fiat India has its manufacturing facility.
Indian Autos Blog has been told by company sources that both cars will launch before the festive season (September-October period) this year. While the Avventura was previewed at the Auto Expo in February this year, the refreshed Punto was revealed in Fiat's product document.
Both, the refreshed Punto and Avventura, sport new design elements such as redesigned headlights and re-profiled taillights, compared to the current Punto. The Avventura adds to this package a bootlid-mounted spare wheel, roof rails, skid plates and plastic mouldings for a more rugged look. While the specifications of the Avventura have not been made official, Fiat could increase the ride height of the car.
Inside, both cars sport new interiors similar to the refreshed Linea. While the refreshed Punto gets a dual-tone black and beige interior, the Avventura gets orange inserts for the AC vents, music system, gearlever and handbrake. The Avventura also features roll-and-tilt gauges along with a compass.
In terms of engine options, the Punto facelift is expected to soldier on with existing powertrains - 1.2- and 1.4-liter petrol and 1.3-liter diesel in two power states. The engine choices for the Avventura are unknown. Interestingly the Avventura concept had a six-speed manual transmission at the Auto Expo revealing.
