This was almost the successor of the Fiat Punto

Fiat has done its best to stretch the life of the last generation Punto considerably, but finally pulled the plug on the European Fiat Punto in August 2018. The third generation started life as Grande Punto, was renamed Punto Evo after a facelift in 2009 and renamed again in 2012 after a final European facelift. Then to simply Punto. We emphatically write ‘European’, because the Punto received another facelift in India in 2014, but it also disappeared from the market a few months after it was over with the European Punto. Since Fiat put an end to the Punto five years ago, car country has been Puntoloos. During the presentation of the Fiat 600e, the Italian brand showed a design sketch of what the successor to the Punto could have been.

According to Antonio Massacesi, Head of Fiat New Products, former CEO Sergio Marchionne was skeptical about the B-segment after the Punto’s disappearance. Marchionne would have believed that the competition in that important corner of the car country in Europe would be too strong. In addition, Marchionne thought the profit margins were too small. According to Massacesi, Fiat therefore came up with the idea in 2013 of what he describes as ‘a bigger 500’, a car of which the Italians are now releasing a sketch. That ‘larger 500’ should be a size smaller than the 500X that appeared on the market a year later. According to Massacesi, the ‘larger 500’ had to be “more appealing and cheaper than a Punto or Fiesta”. Top man Marchionne approved the plans, after the plug had been pulled from the project several times, to finally put an end to it. A completely new basis would have to be developed for the Punto successor, the Punto platform was no longer sufficient and, according to the Italians, was unsuitable for any form of electrification. Now that Fiat has been part of Stellantis for a while, it does have a platform that it can use under a Punto successor. The result? The Fiat 600e. It is also a size smaller than the 500X.

You could see the Fiat 600e as a spiritual successor to the Punto, although it is certainly not inconceivable if Fiat will eventually supplement its model range with a smaller hatchback as an equivalent to the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa. Furthermore, Fiat says that it is ‘a logical step’ to make the 600e an Abarth version. When are we going to see some of that? That is still the question. Fiat is already announcing the arrival of a ‘new and surprising model’ that will be presented on July 11, 2024. That date was chosen for a reason. It is the day on which Fiat exists 125 years. The manufacturer could just present a new Panda on that day, one of its most successful models ever. It is clear: Fiat is back.