Fiat Punto set for 2023 reboot with Peugeot underpinnings
TURIN, ITALY - The Fiat Punto hatchback was quietly discontinued three years ago, after 25 years and three generations, with the last iteration sticking around for 13 of those years. But now the Fiat Punto looks set for a reboot in 2023, with completely fresh underpinnings.
According to Carscoops, parent company Stellantis revealed during a recent presentation that Fiat planned to launch a brand new B-segment vehicle in 2023, and that it would be based on a “common” platform.
The logical assumption here is that the Punto successor will move over the CMP platform, which originated as a Peugeot architecture but which now looks set to underpin a wide range of vehicles across the Stellantis group’s 14 brands. CMP currently underpins the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa, and interestingly this won’t be the first time that the Punto has shared a platform with the latter as the third-generation Punto was related to the fourth-gen Corsa through a commonly-developed architecture.
Given that the 2023 Fiat Punto will likely be closely related to the latest-generation 208 and Corsa, you can expect it to be offered with Peugeot’s 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, in normally aspirated and turbocharged form. It’s also very likely that it will follow its French and German siblings in offering a fully electric variant, particularly given Fiat’s ambition to make electric cars more affordable.
In fact, the Punto could very well be Fiat’s last internal combustion powered compact car. Back in June, Fiat boss Oliver François said that the Italian car brand would gradually transform its line-up to electric only between 2025 and 2030. In fact, the new-generation Fiat 500 is already the first Fiat product to offer battery power only, although the older generation model is set to stick around for a while as a more affordable internal combustion alternative. CEO François said he believed Fiat had a duty to make electric cars as affordable as their ICE equivalents, but cautioned that this would also depend on battery prices coming down.