Maruti Suzuki will soon start selling a more upmarket version of the Wagon R from its NEXA chain of dealerships in order to establish an even stronger foothold on the small car market
You can trust Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), the country’s largest-selling carmaker and the king of small cars, to never rest on its laurels. Recently, the carmaker came up with the XL6, an Ertiga-based crossover that feels more premium and retails through the company’s NEXA dealerships.
Next, the manufacturer will even launch the S-Presso On September 30. The new small car will be a crossover-style budget hatchback that will challenge the Renault Kwid and Datsun redi-GO. However, the company’s new car onslaught won’t end here as it even plans to launch a new version of the Maruti Wagon R that will be sold through the NEXA outlets.
The latest generation Maruti Wagon R debuted early this year and is the largest and the most popular version yet. Its new version, which will be sold through the NEXA retail chain, will be launch towards the end of next month.
We have already shown you some spy images of the upcoming model and based on these, along with some additional details, we have come up with a rendering to show you what the new version could look like.
In all likelihood, the new Maruti Wagon R for Nexa will have a higher ground clearance than the regular version. Our guess is that the new model would offer around 180 mm of clearance. Also, various spy images have revealed that the car will feature several LED lighting elements.
These will help the vehicle have a more premium appearance. While the basic design of the NEXA-spec Maruti Wagon R won’t feature any major design changes, the tallboy hatchback will feature styling elements similar to what have been seen on the XL6. This should help the upcoming model easily distinguish itself from the regular version.
As you can see in our rendering, the Maruti Wagon R for NEXA will have a bold and a rather upright grille, similar to that of the Maruti XL6. Also, a highlight of the front fascia will be its split headlamp setup, which is something that is increasingly becoming common on most SUVs. This trend was started in India by the Tata Harrier and today, we have a handful of other models, including the Hyundai Venue, MG Hector and Kia Seltos following this trend.
In the multi-stage lighting arrangement for the NEXA Maruti Wagon R, the main beam, which will have a projector setup, is housed in a middle position. It’s flanked by a sleek LED DRL, which rests at the top-most position. The lower-most position, as usual, stays reserved for the foglamps. The new version of the company’s popular tallboy, which could be called the Stingray or the XL5, will have a bold grille similar to that of the XL6.
In the side profile, the Maruti Wagon R for NEXA will remain more or less unchanged. However, the alloy wheels will be painted black. The tail lamps will feature LED elements and so will even the high-mounted stop lamp. The interior will feature an all-black theme and could get some new features.
Powering the new model will be the 1.2-litre K-series petrol unit that is even available on the Wagon R. This peppy yet frugal engine delivers a maximum power of 82 PS and a peak torque of 113 Nm. Transmission option will include a 5-speed manual and a 5-speed AMT. Like the XL6, the new model could be sold only in the Zeta and Alpha trims.