(Apr. 17) FIAT finally released the teaser images of a completely new sedan, FIAT Viaggio ahead of the models official debut at the upcoming 2012 Beijing Auto Show, which will get underway from April 23.
The hatchback version could be launched in India by the end of 2013
The car’s name, ‘Viaggio’ is Italian for ‘voyage’ or ‘journey’. But to make it easy for the Chinese folks, FIAT has given the sedan a Chinese name, ‘Fei Xiang’, which means ‘flying’ in English. As is evident form the images, the Viaggio is based on the 2013 Dodge Dart that was first shown at the 2011 Detroit Motor Show, which in turn uses the FIAT’s new CUSW (Compact US Wide) platform. The compact architecture was originally developed for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
The four-door, five-seater sedan measures 4,679 mm in length and 1,850 mm wide with a wheelbase of 2,708 mm. External features of the new car include what the automaker describes as a ‘contemporary Fiat face’, LED rear lights, a chrome grille and sweptback headlights.
Although the Viaggio was designed in Torino, the sedan will be produces at the GAC-FIAT World Class Manufacturing plant in Changsha from July 2012 and will hit the showrooms in China by the third quarter of 2012.
While, there is no official word by the company, Fiat is also rumored to be developing a five-door hatchback version of the Viaggio that will be introduced next year in the European market to replace the FIAT Bravo. The replacement of Bravo in Europe could also land on the Indian shores, maybe under a completely different name. (Peg)
