FIAT LINEA: A new sedan for Indian customers

Auto manufacturer Fiat India on Friday launched its much hyped and much awaited luxury sedan FIAT LINEA in India with a tagline of "Admiration Guaranteed". Its the first sedan launch for the year 2009 in Indian automobile market however a second launch of the year after the launch of Mahindra Xylo, which was also launched few days ago only. This car was about to launch last year only in December 2008 however Fiat India postponed the launch after Mumbai Terror Attack.This car will be available in both diesel and petrol versions in India.The petrol version of the car will be available in the price range of Rs 5.99 lacs to Rs 6.99 lacs (ex-showroom price of Delhi) while the diesel version is priced between Rs 6.89 lacs to Rs 8.10 lacs (ex-showroom price of Delhi).

The Linea will be available in four colours at the time of the launch-flamenco red, minimal grey, parla champagne and hip hop black. And it will come with 1.4 Litre engine for petrol version whereas in case of diesel variant it will be available with 1.3 litre multijet engine, that is already been offered in FIAT Palio Stile (Diesel Version). The car will also comes with safety features like Dual Airbags, ABS, EBD and also a new technology to Indian customers Blue & Me. Even it also comes with lots of luxury and comfort features inside and i think FIAT has tried to give customers better interior incase of LINEA rather than what it has offered in case of Palio Stile.The car is currently sold in more than 50 countries across Europe, Asia, Central and South America and Africa but now it will be manufactured in both India and Brazil and exported to other international markets along serving this two nations markets. The sedan will be manufactured at Fiat's plant near Pune and is the first major launch after the company introduced the diesel version of Palio Stile last year. The plant has a manufacturing capacity of over 200,000 engines and 300,000 cars as per company's statement.

This car has already met with a strong success across the world and although Linea has been designed with a strong Italian style but FIAT has taken Indian taste into consideration and incorporated required changes in Indian avatar of FIAT LINEA. Even FIAT has high hopes with this car to get back its lost glory and get back as an active player in Indian automobile sector. However its the coming time will only tell how far LINEA takes FIAT brand in India and whether it will be able to give back the lost name of FIAT in India.

The launch of the Linea is first in the line of three launches that Fiat will undertake this year, the other two being Bravo and Grande Punto. While most probably Grande Punto will be manufactured in India and will come at a price tag of upto 6lacs to fight with Maruti Swift and Hyundai's latest offering i20. But where is Fiat Bravo is concerned, it will be coming in Indian market at a price point of around 25 lacs to focus a particular section of peoples and thats why this car will be imported like FIAT has did in case of its last year offering FIAT 500 that comes around a price point of 15 lacs.For more information regarding this cars features, detail prices, images (both interior and exterior) and technical specifications, one can visit its official website:

http://www.fiatlinea.in