The Fiat Punto is a supermini

Supermini car

A supermini is a British term that describes automobiles larger than a city car but smaller than a small family car. This car class is also known as the B-segment across Europe, and as subcompact in North America....

 produced by the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 manufacturer, Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

, since 1993.
Internally codenamed Project 176, the Punto was announced in September 1993 and launched in late 1993 as a replacement for the ageing Fiat Uno

Fiat Uno

The Fiat Uno is a supermini car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat. The Uno was launched in 1983 and built in its homeland until 1995, with production still taking place in other countries.-First series :...

. The Fiat Punto was voted European Car of the Year

European Car of the Year

The European Car of the Year award was established in 1964 by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organisers of the award are Auto , Autocar , Autopista , Autovisie , L'Automobile Magazine , Stern and Vi Bilägare .The voting jury consists of motoring...

 for 1995. The Punto's distinctive clean-cut styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro

Giorgetto Giugiaro

Giorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...

 was an instant hit (though one of the car's most recognisable features, the vertical tail/rear lights, were not part of Giugiaro's original design and were in fact added later in-house at Fiat's factory).