India: the Linea gets some vitamins

Last week Fiat India presented the Linea T-Jet following its strategy to gain more market share with more new versions of its current range. This sedan was initially offered with 2 different engines: one 1.4 petrol with 89 hp, and 1.3 MultiJet Diesel with 92 hp. These engines are a bit small for a this 4,56 m long sedan, so people from Fiat decided to introduce a turbo engine with 114 hp to give it some more dynamism. The result: the only B-Segment sedan turbo available in the market, with the best torque, and with a very good fuel-efficiency result (Fiat talks about 15 km per liter). This new version is available in 3 different variants: Active, Dynamic, and Emotion, all of them with ABS, Auto On/Off headlamps, and rain sensing wipers. The Emotion version includes 16″ Alloy wheels, and leather seats. The most interesting is the price, starting at 7,87 lakhs (10.100 euros) and going up to 9,11 lakhs (11.700 euros). These are very competitive prices considering the fact that it is the first small sedan in India to be offered with a turbo engine. It is more or less as expensive as other sedans of the segment which are powered by non-turbo engines. The question is how much do Indians appreciate this kind of engine and how much are they willing to pay for. For now, this is going to be the first step in the process of upgrading Fiat’s current range in this country, as the Abarth Punto is expected to arrive in October 2013, using the same turbo engine, and therefore it might be produced locally to contain costs.

Thanks to my friend Bharath Elango for the tip