These are tough times for Fiat in India and indeed around the world as the company struggles to convince buyers that its cars are worth buying. In an effort to revive its fortunes in India, Fiat recently launched the Petra EL, which is essentially a re-badged version of its sedan model — the Siena.
When the New Siena was launched in India around two years ago, the company had debated the possibility of launching it with a new name, but decided to stick with the Siena badge. In retrospect, this was an ill-fated decision, as buyers just did not take to the car.
Now Fiat hopes that the new name — Petra — will do the trick and help it to revive the company’s fortunes in the Indian market.
Powered by the same 1.6-litre, 100bhp petrol engine that is fitted in the Palio GTX model, the ‘Petra EL’ is undoubtedly spectacular value for money, sporting an ex-showroom price of just Rs 4.75 lakh in New Delhi.
Currently the Petra is available in just one trim level — EL. However, this version does not have some of the goodies that were fitted on the earlier top-end Siena Maestro model such as an audio system, alloy wheels, body-coloured bumpers and mirrors, body-side moulding and rear spoiler.
Fiat has however offered certain features on the Petra EL that were not available on the outgoing Siena EL model, such as a chrome front grille and a left-side mirror. The company also claims that the Petra has improved seating comfort. Of course, the biggest change is the 1.6-litre petrol engine, rather than the 1.2-litre 72bhp petrol unit that powered the Siena EL.
In all other respects, think of the Petra as the new avatar of the Siena. The Petra EL also comes with most of the other features that buyers have come to expect in a C-segment car, such as power windows, power steering, central locking and an HVAC system. This new Fiat sedan is available in four colour options — silver frost, thunder black, glacier white, and hazel grey.

How much?
PRICE Rs 4.75 lakh
(ex-showroom, New Delhi) ON SALE Now

How big?
Length 4113mm
Width 1620mm
Height 1455mm
Wheelbase 2373mm
Ground clearance 170mm
Fuel tank capacity 47 litres
Kerb weight 1120kg

Engine
Layout 4 cyl, in-line, front transverse
Max power 100bhp
Max torque 14kgm

what to expect
Value-for-money midsizer which is the cheapest 1.6-litre sedan in the market

Captions:
>> Left-side mirror now standard.
>> Externally, the Petra is not very different from the outgoing Siena model; now EL with 1.6-litre engine.