Maruti Suzuki launches ‘Ertiga'

Aiming to offer the comforts of a utility vehicle at the price of a car, Maruti Suzuki launched its brand new utility vehicle ‘Ertiga' in the city on Thursday. Priced between Rs.6.16 lakh and Rs.8.76 lakh, Ertiga comes in seven colours and has three variants each in petrol and diesel segments.

“The car has been designed for Indian conditions and is aimed at catering to the urban Indian families. It offers more flexibility and space than a sedan without being bulky and expensive like an SUV,” Managing Executive Officer - Engineering, Maruti Suzuki, I.V.Rao said during the inauguration ceremony.

“With a fuel efficiency of about 16 kmpl in petrol variants and 20.77 kmpl in diesel variants, Maruti Ertiga offers about 40 per cent more mileage than other vehicles. With lighter weight and a reasonably powerful engine, it also offers the best power to weight ratio,” he said.

Addressing the concerns of longer waiting time for Maruti cars, Mr. Rao said that the diesel engine production facilities are being ramped up to meet the demands and the waiting period will soon be eliminated.

Maruti Suzuki 2012 A Star hatchback launched with a price of Rs 366,000

Currently available Maruti A Star hatchback had some issues which heeded to be fixed. Agreed it offers excellent handling, is a 1 liter petrol engine but it has failed to receive any importance primarily due to its cramped interiors especially in its rear seats. Maruti A Star has failed to appeal to buyers as a family car due to its space constraints.

Now Maruti Suzuki has learnt from their previous mistakes and are offering the 2012 Maruti A Star with a number of upgrades first among which is more space in its back seats. The seats are split in two and this is what offers a comfortable ride to passengers. Besides this the new A Star also has beige upholstery and trims which make its interiors smart as well as comfortable.

Where engine updates are concerned the 2013 A Star has a 1 liter K series engine offering 67 Bhp peak power and 90 Nm torque. Transmission options would include a five speed manual and four speed automatic gearbox while air bags are an option. New alloy wheels and roof spoiler at the rear are also added to the 2013 model which Maruti Suzuki is offering in Caffeine Brown and Glistening Grey.

The company has exported over 2.81 lakh units so far to over 130 countries, primarily to the European markets such as the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Spain and Germany. Other markets that have also contributed the car include Australia and South Africa.

Maruti Suzuki launches Swift in UP

Maruti Suzuki launched its new version of Swift, loaded with 140 new features, in Uttar Pradesh market today.

Launching the car here the company's Chief General Manager (Network Development) Partho Banerjee said the new Swift has been introduced at a time when there was a good demand for the outgoing model.

Build on an all new platform, the new Swift is longer and wider than the earlier model.

Banerjee said engineers of the company had adopted several new weight reduction techniques for an enhanced power to weight ratio and much fuel efficiency in the new model.

The base model of the Swift (petrol) would start from Rs 4.46 lakh and the diesel from Rs 5.32 lakh

Maruti Suzuki launches upgraded version of Swift

The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, on Wednesday launched an upgraded version of its popular premium hatchback 'Swift' in an aggressive price range of Rs 4.22-6.38 lakh. Built on an all-new global platform, the new Swift is cheaper than rivals Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i20. Maruti is hoping the new Swift would help it drive sales in the world's second largest auto market where new car purchases fell 16% in July.

"The new Swift will create new benchmarks with its improved fuel efficiency, stylish and sportier looks and high performance," Maruti Suzuki India managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi said on the sidelines of the launch in Delhi. The new Swift is lighter by 30 kg and promises better fuel efficiency than its phased out version. The company said the petrol variant would run up to 18.6 km in a litre of fuel, offering 4% more mileage, while the diesel version will deliver 22.9 km in a litre, or 6% more fuel efficiency over the older version.

Maruti, which invested Rs 550 crore in the new car, saw its sales drop 26% in July. The company is now hoping to make strong gains from the new Swift. The company said it has already received orders for 50,000 new Swifts from across the country. In anticipation of the huge order flow, the company has raised production of the new car at its Manesar plant from 12,000 to 18,000 units a month.

Maruti Suzuki hopes to see car sales pickup by festive season

2011 Maruti Suzuki Swift

The past few months haven’t been so good for the Indian auto industry. Sales have slumped during the past months due to various reasons. Maruti Suzuki sales slumped by 8.8 percent in the month of June. India’s #1 auto maker recorded 80,298 units in the month of June this year which almost 8000 units down on the last years tally during the same month. The slowdown has been associated with the rising fuel prices. The increase in interest rates haven’t been helping either.

CNBC-TV18 recently had a chat with RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki. Bhargava believes that the recent slowdown in the auto sales should not only be associated with the rising petrol prices and the interest rates that have also been on the rise. The auto industry has been on a roller coaster ride since the past couple of years. The growth of the industry has been fluctuating for the past few years. Maruti Suzuki grew by 30 percent last year and according to Bhargava a low growth rate in the following year was inevitable.

Suzuki Swift Hatchback

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki is gearing up for the upcoming festive season and Bhargava believes the sales would pick up before Diwali. Now, the company is also getting ready to launch the new Maruti Suzuki Swift. We come to know that the new Swift will be launched in the month of August. Maruti has already halted the production of the old Swift for the upcoming model. The company has also planned an MPV to take on Toyota’s Innova.

Recently, Maruti Suzuki had to deal with labour issues at their Manesar unit, which also lead to huge production losses. The waiting period for Maruti cars thus increased and with new launches impending, the automaker will have get its act together. The festive season will bring in more demand but automakers should also be able to meet those in time if they wish to cash in on the opportunity.

Via Moneycontrol

Maruti Suzuki Starts Work On Diesel Engines

Before middle of 2011, Maruti Suzuki may roll down the diesel engine meant for the mid-sized sedan in India. The company’s CEO and MD said the process is being shaped by the company engineers internally and there is hope to deliver the engine before the middle of 2011. The initial brand for which the engine will be fitted will be SX 4 and the current procurement of engines for its Swift, Dzire and Ritz is from Fiat. He disclosed that the sale for October was 1 lakh units, first of its kind, and efforts are on to repeat the feat for this month too.

The net sale during October was 107555 units in the local market against 95148 units in the previous month. This made the net total sale for the period April-October for this year was 628378 units making a rise by 31.4% from the one derived in the same period of 2009.

The CEO said the company feels difficult to maintain the same stint for this fiscal quoting the tough base existed in the last year. He further mentioned that the operation of the second plant at Manesar will be advanced by six months in 2011 and similar will be the third plant much ahead the scheduled 2013. The expansion activities will incur an investment of Rs3500 crore; the JV enables Maruti hold 54.2% in Suzuki and the Gurgaon plant has the annual capacity of 8.5 lakh units. Manesar facility has the annual capacity of 3.5 lakh units making the net annual capacity to 12 lakhs. He announced the annual closure and maintenance of the facility from December 25 to 2nd January2011.

Mini-SUV From Maruti In Two Years

Maruti Suzuki is still an undisputed leader in the Indian car market by retaining 50% share amidst the invasion of global players into it with rapid pace. To increase the more possible volume and to enter the various segment, Maruti is aiming to roll down an SUV to counter the existing players. The vehicle, according to some section of reports, may be on the lines of Suzuki Jimmy which is a diesel with 2-door. However Maruti may convert this into 4-door, it is learnt, to meet the domestic market demands. According to the company sources, this will be one of the seven models proposed by Maruti for the next couple of years.

Other forms will be on the basis of Alto small car, an MPV on the lines of Toyota Innova on RIII concept. For the calendar year 2011, in January there will be Kizashi sedan, in February it will be SX4 diesel, and in March-April it may be refined Swift and the Swift Dzire ranges. Maruti heavily relies on these two last versions to boost its sale volume for regaining the 50%share in the domestic market. This proposition is made in accordance with the projection of 20-25% sale in car in the next few years. An official from Maruti hinted said that the company is exploring all possibilities to fill in the gap and void left by it in other segments, especially SUV and MUV.


The existing models in SUV are Grand Vitara and Gypsy which are petrol versions. The move comes in the wake of Volkswagen entering into a JV with Suzuki, by which Maruti intends to capitalize on engine specifications. The major players in the SUV segment are M&M with Scorpio, Toyota (Innova and Fortuner) Ford (Endeavor) and Tata (Safari). The segment is expected to rise its market share by 70% towards this year end.

All these indications were to have been conceived and confirmed by the company’s MD and CEO.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited launches Ritz hatchback at 3.90-4.99 lakh

Maruti Suzuki India Limited launched the Suzuki Ritz in India in petrol and diesel variants. The Ritz is the seventh small car in Maruti’s portfolio, positioned in the A2 segment.

The Maruti Ritz will be available with two engines- you choose either the K-series 1.2 litre, four-cylinder, 85PS Petrol engine or the 1.3 litre, 16-valve DDiS, 75PS Diesel engine that Fiat and Tata customers are happy driving.

The diesel variants cost Rs 4.65 lakh and Rs 4.99 lakh, where as the three petrol variants cost between 3.90 lakh to Rs 4.80 lakh.

Petrol Versions -

Lxi - Rs.3,90,000/-
Vxi - Rs.4,20,000/-
Zxi - Rs.4.80,000/-

Diesel Versions -

Ldi - Rs.4,65,000/-
Vdi - Rs.4,99,000/-

(All prices Ex-Showroom Delhi)

Suzuki designed the Ritz on the Swift’s platform, and the high degree of localization additionally helps bringing down the costs.

The company was able to achieve 85% localization for this car.

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz is also India’s first BS IV compliant hatchback. Maruti’s spokesperson declined to comment on the number of cars they were targeting to sell due to the twisted market conditions, but assured it was equipped to meet any level of demand.

Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi-

“Ritz is our parent Suzuki’s fifth global model and it will be the first Bharat Stage-IV emission norms compliant Indian car. We have launched it at the beginning of the fiscal and we hope it will bring excitement in the market”

Maruti Ritz launch confirmed on May 15th 2009

Last time we reported on speculations of the Maruti Ritz car arriving to the Indian soil by May 2009, looks like the popular carmaker is keeping up with the promise. Maruti Suzuki India recently announced the launch dates for their much-awaited Maruti Ritz vehicle.

As the title explains, the Maruti Ritz is all set to be launched officially in the Indian sector on May 15th 2009. The company positions the car for the premium A2 market segment and offers a contemporary European design. The car boasts of being the first passenger car in India to be compliant with the BS-IV emission norms.

The news columns seem to be awash with the news coming from the Maruti Suzuki room. Recently we reported on Maruti’s plans on concentrating at the small car markets and then the Maruti A-Star stepped into the limelight by achieving a top mileage of 26.9 kms to a litre in a fuel efficiency rally held in Delhi.

Maruti Suzuki India Limited takes pride in launching their eighth new model within 48 months. Earlier the company has launched cars like the Swift, Zen Estilo, SX4, Swift Diesel, Grand Vitara, Swift Dzire and A-star.

The Ritz will arrive with two different engine options: the latest K-series 1.2 litre, four-cylinder, 85PS Petrol engine and the booming 1.3 litre, 16-valve DDiS, 75PS Diesel engine. The pricing details of the car are yet under the wraps and these details will be clear only after the launch of the car.

Maruti Suzuki India Focusing on Small Car Market

Earlier we had reported about Maruti Suzuki making claims that A-star achieved a top mileage of nearly 27 kms to a litre. The Indian automaker has been known to roll out cars that are small and offer a good value for money, something that the population here looks out for.

Small cars are their strength, many analysts have apparently said that, and ET is reporting that MSI will now be focusing on the small car market here. The car maker will expand their production capacity in the coming to financial years to an extra two lakh cars. An executive from the company informs that this is being done to cater the small car market, which is buoyant.

Shinzo Nakanishi is the managing director at Maruti Suzuki India. Nakanishi commented, “As demand has increased and will only grow further, we would require additional capacity beyond the current nine lakh cars a year to cater to the small car market. We will increase volumes to meet rising domestic demand and higher export orders.”

The company, apparently, is planning to invest Rs 1,800 crore to expand their capacity. Currently, the Indian carmaker has the capacity to make six lakh cars in Gurgaon. They have sold some 7.9 lakh cars in the last fiscal, domestically as well as abroad. Maruti Suzuki also has a plant at Manesar, where the newer, globally strategic models such as SX4, Swift and A-Star are produced.

Maruti decides to stop 800 and Omni finally

Maruti has decided to stop selling its trademark 800 and the ever present Omni in 11 cities from next year. Stating that this was part of the company’s plans to phase out the two models by 2016 when BS IV norms are set. The company maintains that it will not upgrade the cars to the next level. The 800 has been the country’s highest sold car clocking 27 lakh units from its launch in the eighties. The company saw a drop in the sale of the particular car by 29% this year compared to 5750 units sold last year.

Maruti emphasizes that the Nano would only marginally affect the sales of the 800 if it was not phased out. According to the company the Nano caters to a different segment involving two and three wheelers in a transition stage. The company has stated that it has no new products to replace the phased out cars, at least not in the pipeline. The 800 the first car to mass motorize the nation has lasted till the next.

Maruti A-Star - The Latest Hatchback Car

Amidst the depressing scenario of global meltdown, layoffs and credit crunch, comes the great news... Maruti Suzuki has launched its dream car - Maruti A-Star in India recently.

Everything about the Maruti A-Star is simply unique and if you are really keen on buying a family car, then do have a look at the Maruti A-Star hatchback.

Maruti A-Star - True Blue Export Car

The Maruti Suzuki A-Star has been designed to suit the European car standards and is a true blue export car. As per the rating it has been categorized under the A-Segment car. Among the many features of Maruti A-Star that comply with the European market standards are: New KB-Series 998cc engine which is Euro 5-compliant with Co2 emissions. It has a 67 Bhp engine with 90 Nm of torque. It has a bold design language with strong lines and large wheel arches.

The Maruti A-Star is to be made in 200 variants and will be exported to 150 countries across Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Maruti A-Star will be exported under the name of Suzuki Alto and Suzuki Celerio. Nissan also plans to market the same car under the name Nissan Pixo in Middle East and African markets. Maruti A-Star will also be exported to European countries, where it will replace Alto. The Maruti A-Star will be called Alto in Europe and A-Star in India.

Maruti A-Star - A Driver's Car

The Maruti A-Star is a driver's car. A-Star is very comfortable. The instrument cluster is quite big and all meters are easy to read. It also gets dash mounted tachometer which is first of its kind in this segment. The only drawback is that the height of dashboard is little bit high and may obstruct view of short drivers.

It is loaded with features like power steering, Anti Lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), and fog lamps. The Dash-Mounted Tachometer and Remote Boot & Remote Fuel Filler make the Maruti A-Star all the more driver- friendly car.

Equipped with MacPherson Strut and Coil Spring type of suspension system this car is very efficient in handling the power sequence while on the drive. With front ventilated and rear disc type of brakes Maruti A-Star also offers a minimum turning radius of 4.50 mts. It is also equipped with five gears and manual transmission.

The new compact car offers lightness achieved through downsizing yet provides ample interior roominess and comfort. The Maruti A-Star can seat four people with ease.

Feature Packed Maruti A-Star

Among the power packed features of the Maruti A-Star that makes it a great buy are Power windows, remote central locking, driver & Passenger Airbag. For music lovers the car comes with a CD player with 4 speakers, all for free. Now long drives with your beloved become all the more exciting with music. The air conditioner of Maruti A-Star is considered as fully compact. The car has a petrol engine capable of providing 998 cc displacements. Maruti Suzuki claim that Maruti A-Star will have the highest fuel efficiency at 19.59 (20) km per liter.

This car seems to be very powerful with 3 cylinders and MPFi system and KB series engine. Maximum power delivering capacity of the Maruti A-Star is 67bhp all at the rate of 6200 rpm, as already mentioned above.

For those sitting at the rear, there's a Rear Defogger with Rear Wiper/Washer that makes a ride in the winters easier to spot those lovely views on the road. This is a cool option as the rear passengers get very small windows sideways due to the butterfly wing design of the Maruti A-Star. The Maruti A-Star has been designed with the safety of passengers in mind, as it is provided with 2 rear seat belts.

The Maruti A-Star Variants & Colors

Like the swift Maruti has launched A-Star in 3 variants all run by petrol and they are

Lxi, Vxi & Zxi. The prices of three variants are Maruti A-Star Lxi - Rs. 364500.00, Maruti A-Star Vxi - Rs. 396500.00 and Maruti A-Star Zxi - Rs. 432000.00 as per Ex-showroom Mumbai estimate.

The Maruti A-Star will be available in cool colors like Artic White, Azure Grey, Bright Red, Desert Brown, Healing Green, Midnight Black, Paradise Blue, Silky Silver and Sunlight Copper.

It is for your information that the Maruti A-Star is produced from the Maruti Suzuki Company's Manesar facility in Haryana, India. Designed by Rajesh Kumar Gogu and Saurabh Singh of Maruti Suzuki India, A-Star, which is a five-door hatchback; has been engineered keeping in mind the trends and standards of the European.