Maruti Suzuki will reportedly launch two new entry-level products and one of them will act as a replacement to the Celerio
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) is reported to be working on two new cars that will be priced below Rs. 5 lakh, thus helping in expanding the brand’s entry-level portfolio. The under Rs. 5 lakh segment has largely been overlooked by manufacturers in recent years as more stringent emission standards as well as crash test regulations have increasingly challenged the competitiveness in the price sensitive class.
The report further suggests that one of the two model waiting in the pipeline will be a brand new 800 cc model while the other will be powered by a 1.0-litre petrol engine. It must be noted that the largest carmaker in the country sells the Alto with 800 cc engine and the Celerio with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder gasoline unit and both of them are yet to receive a substantial upgrade in a long while.
The Indo-Japanese manufacturer introduced the third generation Wagon R in early 2019 and it has been a tremendous success while the S-Presso opened up a new segment for the brand. MSIL’s Managing director Kenichi Ayukawa had confirmed that his company was working on an 800 cc model among a slew of other launches but did not elaborate deep into the aforementioned second model.
He also acknowledged keeping the costs low while developing a new entry-level model while complying with new safety and emission regulations “which spike the cost by 10 per cent” on them. While some of the major carmakers have given up on the budget segments, Maruti Suzuki has long been the leader and is only trying to consolidate its position there with new launches.
The sub Rs. 5 lakh segment is predicted to draw in almost five lakh unit sales per annum over the next two to three years despite its overall contribution in the market is gradually going down. Maruti Suzuki could introduce the first of the two new products towards the closing stages of this year. Codenamed YNC as we previously reported, the presumable hatchback will act as a replacement to the aging Celerio.
It will likely use the BSVI compliant 1.0-litre petrol engine that can also be seen in the Wagon R. The all-new 800 cc model, codenamed Y0M, will make its way to India only during the festive season of 2021 and the decision on whether the existing Alto 800 will continue to be on sale or not will be decided around the same period.
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