More than one million Italian visitors came to the 'Open Week' series of events dedicated to the new Fiat Grande Punto, which ran from 17th to 25th September, by visiting any one of the 700 Fiat dealers spread across Italy, which were open each day until 9.00pm.

During this period there have been more than 100,000 test drives undertaken in 2,000 Grande Punto cars which were specially shipped out to the dealers around Italy for the events. All six available engine combinations have been appreciated, and in particular - Fiat report - that the new 1.3-litre Multijet 16v, now with 90bhp on tap, as well as the stylish design of the new car, have gone down well with interested visitors. The dealers say that they have been inundated with a constant stream of visitors seeking to examine the new car, from young people, women, to entire families. Fiat report that 15,000 firm orders were received by the 25th September.

The new Grande Punto - heralded as the key model which will drive Fiat forward toards a bright future - was launched to the media in a glitzy event held at the famous Palavela, in Turin, at the beginning of this month.
 

Exactly two weeks ago the Grande Punto - which was also awarded a Euro NCAP 5-star top rating for occupant crash protection this month - then made its world public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where the stylish Giorgetto Giugiaro designed car was one of the undisputed stars of this important event.

There are nineteen different versions of the Grande Punto now available, in two body formats (three or five doors), four specific model levels (Active, Dynamic, Emotion and Sport), with six engines (two petrol and four turbo-diesel, all of which meet Euro 4 standards), 13 body colours, and 12 internal designs, which all add up to a permutation total of more than 100,000 possible combinations.