The Fiat Linea sedan has been officially launched in India during an event that was well attended by the national media.

The Fiat Linea sedan has been officially launched in India during an event that was well attended by the national media. Originally set to be launched last autumn its introduction was delayed, firstly to stop it clashing with model launches from rival car manufacturers, and then due to the Mumbai bombings. The Linea started to arrive in the Fiat India dealer showrooms in recent weeks ahead of its official presentation.

"Fiat has kept its promise of making this an exciting year for its customers," Rajeev Kapoor, the CEO of Fiat India, told reporters at the launch. "The launch of the Linea is the first in the line of three launches that Fiat will undertake this year, the other two being Bravo and Grande Punto. "With this car [Linea] which is equipped with Multijet and the FIRE engine, we hope to make inroads in the C+ segment." The Grande Punto which will also be built at Ranjangaon factory (currently it is built at two locations in Italy and in Brazil) and the Bravo, which will be imported from Italy in fully built format.

"We have also ensured that the Linea appeals to a wide range of customers with its petrol and diesel variants and the various options available under each of them," Kapoor added. "The car has met with strong success across the world and although Linea has been designed with a strong Italian style, we have also taken into consideration local Indian tastes and requirements and have incorporated this into the Indian Linea."

The Linea will be manufactured at the joint Fiat-Tata factory at Ranjangaon in Pune, and the C-segment sedan becomes the second model in the revitalised Fiat India line-up after the relaunch of the B-segment Palio hatchback last year as the Palio Stile Multijet. India thus becomes the third country to manufacture the Linea, after Turkey (where the project was developed) and Brazil. It will soon be also built in China and Russia.

The Ranjangaon factory has a capacity of 200,000 units a year allowing Linea production to keep pace with the local demand that materialises. There will be two engines, the 1.4 litre FIRE petrol engine and the highly acclaimed compact 1.3 litre Multijet, with three finish specification versions of each. The petrol engined Linea will start at Rs 5.90 lakh for the entry level version, rising to 6.98 lakh for the highest specification version, while the turbodiesels will be priced between Rs 7.10 and Rs 8.35 lakh. There will be four colours available at the launch.

The Linea received two important boosts from the media just days before the launch. It was voted India's Car of the Year in the prestigious UTVi Autocar India Awards, "The stylish new car from Italy strikes the right notes, be it styling or pricing," said the magazine in its summary, "A creamy smooth diesel engine option just leapfrogs it to the winner's trophy," the judges added. Then just days later Overdrive magazine honoured the Linea as its Mid Size Car of the Year 2009.