The second facelift of the Fiat Croma was introduced in 1991. The car wasn't that young anymore since it had been launched in 1985, but the base platform was very good. It was the same platform used for larger cars such as the Lancia Thema, Alfa Romeo 164 or the Saab 9000. All four carmakers joined forces to invest in a new, FWD platform, to replace their RWD models. Previously, Fiat had had the RWD Argenta model and it needed a change. In 1988, along with the first facelift, the Croma received the first direct-injected diesel for a passenger vehicle. The gasoline engines were also very advanced for that time, especially the CHT versions, which had a pre-chamber where air and fuel were mixed before entering the cylinders. The transmissions offered were either a 5-speed manual, fitted as standard on all models, or a 4-speed automatic, on selected engines only. In Europe, in the '90s, the demand for automatic transmissions was very low. Thus, investing in a better automatic gearbox didn't make any sense. The top version had an Alfa Romeo V6 engine. It was a 2.5-liter and offered 162 hp. This engine was very close in performance with the 2.0-liters turbo with 150 hp. The naturally aspirated 2.0-liter engine had 136 hp. The Croma was withdrawn from the production line in 1996 and Fiat decided to not make a replacement for it.