The designer's aim was to interpret the latest customer trends and tastes and come up with new shapes and features that strive for greater styling excellence. The personality of the Punto model has now been reinterpreted: the range is no longer dependent on a distinction between 3- or 5-door versions but is now distinguished by the character of its versions: elegant on one side and sporty on the other. 

exterior

The very restrained exterior dimensions of the New Fiat Punto allow it to slip through town traffic and park with ease: the dimensions are 1.66 m in width, 1.48 m in height, and 3.84 m (the 3-door) or 3.86 m (the 5-door) in length. 

The new car also features a brand new front end that is the same for 3- and 5-door versions but differs according to the specification: more refined for elegant specifications and more aggressive for sporty versions. Examples include different grilles that are now larger in size: the grille designed for elegant versions features chrome inserts while sports versions offer square ellipsoid holes. The holes are arranged in a spoked formation and frame the round Fiat logo (95 mm in diameter). 
Sports versions boast a dynamic front that owes its go-getting appearance to three air intakes with honeycomb grilles on the bumpers. These are highlighted by delimiting lengthways motifs. The elegant versions are distinguished by a front end that softens the aggressive feel of the previous model and considerably increases its sophistication. The change is wrought by bug-eyed headlights with split reflectors that increase brightness and can also be built into all-chrome cylindrical mounts. Their look of precious objects is enhanced by their transparency, the great care that has gone into defining the tiniest detail and the studied contrast between chrome parts and shaded parts (the shade serves to highlight the chrome). These light clusters (where nothing is hidden, everything can be seen) are the distinctive feature of the New Fiat Punto's front end.

The bumpers, also new, are bigger and house new circular polyelliptical foglights. Much may have changed at the front, but the New Punto still retains the much-praised sides of the original model diversified into 3- and 5-door versions. It also offers brand-new alloy wheels and 15" wheel hubs with an elegant or sporty design. 

The side view of both cars is based on the stylistic approach of a full volume scored along the sides by two grooves of great visual impact. These distinctive motifs originate on the wing, run along the glazed surfaces to tail off at the rear. Though they do this in very different ways. 

On the 3-door model, the first part of the line is the same but it then rises toward the tail of the car to lighten and reduce the ratio between glass and metal in favour of metal. The side slash forms a pair with the upper score that tends to drop down and converge with the lower line to create a visual sensation of the car's weight being thrust forward. The rake of the rear end of the car also reinforces this impression. 

On the 5-door version, the lower line does not rise toward the tail and thus makes the side look more linear. The upper mark runs cleanly along the side without dropping and apparently converges on an imaginary point outside the car. This device suggests a longer car with a greater volume. The styling strategy also allows the 5-door version to increase the area of glass at the rear.

Both versions share interplay of light and shade (conferred by the meeting of different planes) that conveys an idea of the car's compactness and solidity. 

The rear end in all cases reflects the stylistic configuration of the front (be it elegant or sporty). The Fiat Style Centre has come up with three configurations. The first offers new tail-lights that extend to the boot lid on three door versions in elegant or sporty specifications. These light clusters combine technology and design to give the car a more up-to-date and original look. 

The second solution applies to elegant specifications (both 3- and 5-door) that feature a new rear bumper with reflectors. The appearance is of greater refinement and uncluttered form. 

Lastly, a rear bumper designed exclusively for sports versions. To match the front end, this part of the car includes air intake openings with honeycomb grille air intakes. The feel of sportiness and dynamism is very strong, though the sense of class that typifies the New Fiat Punto remains unchanged. The rear bumpers can house parking sensors that are body-coloured on sports versions. 

On all versions, the tail-gate features a 95 mm round Fiat logo in the middle and new wording to identify the different specifications: 16v, Jtd, Multijet, Sporting, HGT and Naturalpower. 

The body shades available on the new model are also worth a word or two, remembering that the choice of colour is always laden with emotional and aesthetic meaning when you buy a new car. Like the car shape and interior, the body shade is a powerful expression of personality, a tangible sign of individual lifestyle and the way one appears to other people. And more. The body colours highlight the car's shape and volumes. This is particularly true of the clean lines and relatively sharp edges of the New Fiat Punto, where the body shades emphasise changes in cross section. 

The number of colours in the palette amounts to no fewer than 13, including non-metallic and metallic. Non-metallic shades are: Titian Red, White, Broom Yellow and Sprint Blue. The choice of metallic shades is: Black, Smoke Grey, Steel Grey, Lido Blue, Patrician Grey, Crystal Green, Jet Blue, Lagoon Blue and Scylla Red. 
Broom Yellow and Sprint Blue are exclusive to the Sound, Sporting and HGT specifications. 

interior

While personality is the term that best encapsulates the exterior shape of the New Fiat Punto, the term that best sums up the nature of the interior is functionality. Whichever version you choose, the passenger compartment always meets the needs of customers who demand a comfortable environment, user-friendliness, controls that are easy and intuitive to use and plenty of space. 

As far as space was concerned, the brief was to keep the same competitive edge the previous Punto enjoyed over its rivals: i.e. the best passenger room levels in the segment. The aim was achieved and more because the volumes and spaces are cleverly managed on this model to meet motorists' true needs. 

The interior of the new model ensures the same travelling comfort and practicality of use on all versions and specifications. As far as style alone is concerned, the most distinctive feature is a generous curved facia with no sharp edges that gives the passenger compartment a welcoming, reassuring look. The upper part is dark grey while the lower part is an up-to-date, sophisticated light grey. On sports versions, it comes in a uniform dark grey to emphasise the tall, high-tech look of the aluminium-coloured central console. 

All the features and parts that can improve quality of life on board are arrayed on the facia. Many of these have previously only been seen on higher segment cars: an instrument panel with multifunction display, dual zone climate control system, 5 different telematic packages (radio with tape player, radio with CD, radio with CD and MP3 player, CONNECT OBN and Navigation System). The New Fiat Punto also adds 6 keys on the steering wheel for controlling the radio, and column switches for the rain sensor, trip computer and Cruise Control. 

The colours and part surface treatments have also been picked to convey pleasurable sensations to the sight and touch. A light shade has been chosen for the passenger compartment to make it look big and airy. Other surfaces feature different types of embossing (the finish that gives plastic the rough feel typical of hide) to emphasise the car's refinement - e.g. the upper part of the facia - or its practicality, as in the case of the oddments compartments where the treatment also serves as scratchproofing. An opaque finish has also been applied to the plastics to ensure the various parts are a pleasure to touch and behold. 

The cloth trim on the seating serves to distinguish between the different specifications. Sometimes the effect centres on colour contrasts, sometimes it focuses on the effect of one shade against another and sometimes a high-tech coating is chosen to suggest the idea of sportiness. The model introduces new cloths and brand-new pale colours for the trims that make the passenger compartment look even more elegant and refined. The cloth trims used on the Dynamic, Class and Emotion categories definitely fall into the latter category. The first two specifications are in blue and anthracite while the second offers stylish flock trims in blue or pearl grey. 
Customers who buy their New Punto in Actual, Active and Natural Power versions can choose between two cloth shades: blue or grey, both dark. The same colours are offered for the Sound specification cloth trim. The new Fiat Punto Sporting and Fiat Punto HGT sport a cloth with a 3-D metallic effect. The choice fell on dark shades with grey or yellow dots that give the entire interior a very distinctive look when combined with the wrap-around seat shape. 

The control panel is also new. This part differs from specification to specification and offers fully redesigned graphics and all-new displays. The displays also offer a greater number of functions and rows (up to 3 in the case of the multifunctional display) to convey information to the driver more effectively.