Fiat Group Automobiles India (FGAIPL) has rolled out its third new product for the year, the Avventura, a contemporary urban vehicle (CUV) for the global market.

The Avventura, which was earlier displayed at the Auto Expo 2014, forms part of the four model launches proposed for this year by the company. The fourth new model to follow will be the Fiat Abarth 500 before year end. 

The Avventura CUV has already received pre-bookings of 500 and comes in both petrol and diesel trims. The 1.4-litre Fire petrol Active trim level starts at Rs 5.99 lakh with the Dynamic trim priced at Rs 7.05 lakh. The 1.3 Multijet diesel Active version costs Rs 6.89 lakh, going up to Rs 8.17 lakh for the diesel Emotion edition (all ex-showroom Delhi).

Nagesh Basavanhalli, president and managing director, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India Operations, told Autocar Professional on the sidelines of the launch today in New Delhi that the company expects a couple of weeks’ waiting period for the Avventura with deliveries to start immediately.

“We expect increased traffic during the festive season.” He terms the sub-4-metre Avventura as a blend of the crossover and the compact utility vehicle with the CUV pitted against the Ford EcoSport and the compact Renault Duster.

The Avventura comes loaded with high terrain gauges, functional roof rails, large boot and 60:40 split seats. A highlight is the high ground clearance of 205mm to ensure a smooth ride over potholes and undulating terrain.

Taking a cue from the Make-in-India adage, the Avventura while sporting an Italian design  has been developed and manufactured in India. The Avventura has been positioned as a city car during weekdays and as a lifestyle UV during weekends.

“The Avventura is India’s first CUV, a lifestyle product which is specially designed for someone who is continuously in search of enthusiasm. It shows Fiat’s commitment to India to produce cars designed for India and manufactured for India. As per our three- pillar strategy, we have strengthened our dealer network, after sales service and with our 2014 product portfolio we aim to become one of the most favoured car companies in India,” added Basavanhalli.

The Avventura will be available at Fiat’s exclusive showrooms across India. Fiat is also looking at working closely with customers on making available specific accessories to them like roof rails.

Currently, the Avventura comes with a manual transmission and Basavanhalli said that Fiat will later look at equipping the Avventura with an automatic transmission as well.