The Fiat Viaggio is one car we have set our eyes on. There are basically 2 reasons for our keen interest
- Fiat says that the Viaggio was made for ‘emerging markets’
- For the first time, Fiat India sent us a press release of the Viaggio being unveiled in Beijing which has absolutely no Indian context at that point of time signaling a future India entry.
Nothing has been confirmed as such but we would like to believe that the Viaggio will drift into Indian shores. Surprisingly, Fiat never revealed the interiors of the Viaggio at the Beijing Motor show because it was a pre-production model. But thanks to our friends at CarNewsChina.com we are able to bring you detailed interiors shots of the Viaggio’s interiors.
Unsurprisingly, the Viaggio borrows a lot of components from the donor car. We would like to remind our viewers that the Fiat Viaggio is not an all-new car but just a re-engineered Dodge Dart.
Whereas the Dodge Dart is a boy racer’s dream, the Fiat Viaggio is a gentleman’s ride. Thus the Viaggio gets beige and brown interiors instead of the Dodge’s black and red layout.
The center console features a floating island bezel, which has a 8.4-inch touchscreen media center. A few center console pockets can also be seen to help the driver store his mobile phone and some spare change. The Fiat Viaggio gets a three-spoke steering wheel with mounted controls. At the rear, one can see the rear AC vents to keep the passengers cool.
The Viaggio is based on Fiat's C-EVO platform which also underpins the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. We are expecting two different tunes of 1.4 T-Jet engine to power the Viaggio – one with 118 HP and the other one with 147 HP. Both engines will be mated to a a six-speed 'DDCT-C635' dual clutch transmission.
Other engines such as the 1.6 or 2.0, and even 2.4 could be offered in the future. An educated guess is diesel-driven markets will get higher displacement avatars of the Multi-jet engine. The 1.6-liter Multi-jet sounds right but Fiat has much bigger version if they are in the mood to offer more performance.
Read more about the Fiat Viaggio
Fiat has very big plans for the Viaggio in China. Fiat plans to replace the Linea with the Viaggio in China. Price will start around 120,000 yuan (around 10 lakhs). Furthermore, the company is contemplating on a hatchback and an SUV based on the same platform.
The Viaggio is a challenge to the Chevrolet Cruze, if Fiat India can take it up!
[Source: CarNewsChina.com & Auto.Sohu.com]