The Fiat Punto could have evolved into a larger 500, but plans were scraped allegedly due to high R&D costs
July 5, 2023 at 09:30
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Automakers usually keep canceled projects secret but sometimes we get a hint of what is happening behind closed doors. The most recent example is the decade-old project for an aborted Fiat Punto successor which has just been shared with the public.
During the presentation of the all-new 600, Fiat’s CEO Olivier Francois, revealed that the project for a new B-Segment vehicle is not recent as it harks its routes in the pre-Stellantis era. Back in 2013, Antonio Massacesi who is now Head of Fiat New Products, was responsible for the successor of the Grande Punto that never saw the light of day.
According to Massacesi, the former CEO of FCA, the late Sergio Marchione, was “skeptical about the B-Segment as he found it too competitive and not profitable enough”. Still, he liked the idea of a “bigger 500” which would be “more aspirational than a Punto, or a Fiesta, or a Clio” but come with “much better pricing”.
More: New Fiat 600e Starts At $39K And Gets 249 Miles Of Electric Range, PHEV To Follow
The model initially got the green light and the team was put to work. Unfortunately, after an on-off period, the project fell apart, as it became clear that a new platform was required. A possible contestant was the SSCC architecture, jointly developed by FCA and GM, which was already underpinning the 2005 Fiat Grande Punto, the 2006 Opel Corsa, and the 2008 Alfa Romeo MiTo. However, Massacesi admitted that this one was already outdated at the time in terms of safety and emissions. With no other brand willing to share the costs, Fiat had to abandon the idea of a new supermini, focusing on more viable projects.
The presentation included an official sketch of the canceled Punto replacement shown as a predecessor of the 600 which is Fiat’s latest entry to the B-Segment. The illustration from 2013 looks very much like the 500X which is not surprising as the SUV went on to become the “larger 500”, combining a more spacious interior with higher ground clearance and adventurous yet retro styling. In fact, a closer look reveals that it is a slightly tweaked version of an official development sketch for the Fiat 500X published by Auto&Design magazine back in 2014 as part of the design story.
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What is puzzling is that the Fiat 500X which was originally introduced in 2016 and remains available today largely unchanged, was based on the Small Wide 4×4 architecture, which itself is an evolution of the SCCS platform. It is not clear why a Punto successor couldn’t use those underpinnings which are also used by the Jeep Renegade.
In any case, Fiat stopped production of the aging Punto in 2018 after a seemingly never-ending 13-year-long production run. Today, the automaker has a fresh approach with the all-new 600e B-SUV, utilizing Stellantis’ parts bin for its platform and a fully electric powertrain. The only difference is that the new model starts at €35,950 ($39,176) before incentives, which is more than double the price of the last Punto.
You can watch the part of the presentation about the canceled supermini project around the 33:04 mark in the official video here.
