Fiat India is looking to roll out a refreshed version of its Palio city car at the 2010 Auto Expo. Though the Indian arm of the Italian automaker has not commented on this but it had indicated that its oldest surviving model will not be
phased out in the next few years.
Since Palio has been in the Indian market for nearly a decade, Fiat might be contemplating on replacing it with a newer model or position the next generation model between the Palio and Punto. There is also a lot of buzz that in addition the engines strapped on the new Palio will be compliant with Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emission norms or may also get replaced by engines that power another Fiat model, Grande Punto. It is to be mentioned that the current version of Palio, which is priced in the range of Rs. 345,000-450,000 (US$ 7,387-9,635) (ex-showroom, Delhi), is averaging around 250-300 units a month only.
The changes expected are: front grille is carried forward from Punto Evo, but the bottom portion is similar to existing Palio. The slanted tail gate and sharp tail lamps looks more appealing. Overall the 2011 Fiat Palio is based on New Grande Punto.
Meanwhile, Fiat India is also planning to launch CNG versions of its cars during the April-June quarter of 2010. According to well-informed sources, the Palio and the Grande Punto are the two probable cars that Fiat is initially considering for CNG.
