Santro AMT or Ignis AMT – Year End Discounts Make Ignis A Better Deal?

Santro AMT or Ignis AMT

The Maruti Ignis AMT is being sold with discount & benefits up to Rs 77000, which means you can buy it for the cost of a Hyundai Santro AMT

The Maruti Swift and the Maruti Baleno are the most successful models in the B1 and B2 segments respectively. Even in the C1 segment, it’s the Maruti Ciaz that rules the roost. But one car that has not been able to become as successful as any of the above models is the Maruti Ignis, the small crossover that competes with models like the Hyundai Grand i10 on one end and Mahindra KUV100 on other.

We can’t say that the Maruti Ignis is a flop as it sells more than 4,000 units every month. For Maruti Suzuki, however, this is a very small number if you consider that even costlier cars like the Ciaz sell a couple of times more. However, the company is far from giving up on the small crossover, or, as they say, on its ‘micro-SUV’. To keep the sales coming, the company is offering heavy discounts on this model.

The Maruti Ignis became one of the first cars to feature an AMT. The presence of automated manual transmission makes the Ignis a great car for at least the city dwellers who require the traits of an SUV without spending as much. Both the manual and the AMT versions of the Ignis are powered by a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine that produces 82 bhp and 113 Nm.

2018 new santro blue-3

While there’s a discount of Rs 72,000 on the former, the latter is available with offers worth Rs 77,000. These are being offered through a consumer offer of Rs 15,000, a cash discount of Rs 30,000, an exchange bonus of Rs 25,000, and a corporate discount of Rs 7,000. This brings down the prices of the Ignis to new Hyundai Santro levels.

Launched recently, the new Hyundai Santro, like many other cars in its segment, offers an optional AMT. Prices of the new Hyundai Santro AMT start at Rs 5.19 lakh (ex-showroom). The costlier version costs Rs 5.47 lakh. In comparison, prices of the Maruti Ignis AMT start at Rs 5.83 lakh (ex-showroom). However, if you reduce Rs 77,000 from this, it ends up costing only Rs 5.07 lakh, which is Rs 12,000 lesser than the base Santro AMT.

So, for less than what you would pay for the Hyundai Santro AMT, you can get yourself a brand new Maruti Ignis AMT, which is from a segment. Above. In comparison to the 1.2-litre engine of the Ignis, the new Santro is powered by a 1.0-litre engine that offers only 68 bhp and 99 Nm. Plus, it doesn’t look anywhere as funky as the Ignis, which is available with many customisation options.

maruti suzuki ignis drive review front-13

By simple calculations, it gets easy to see that you can buy yourself a better car than the Hyundai Santro AMT for a slightly lesser price. The Maruti Ignis AMT is not only more powerful and feels more premium, but also offers a better AMT and many SUV traits. Plus, it also delivers slightly more fuel efficiency, which is an essential factor for most car buyers.

The new Hyundai Santro AMT has an ARAI-rated fuel efficiency of 20.3 kmpl. On the other hand, the Maruti Ignis AMT delivers an ARAI-certified fuel economy of 20.83 kmpl. As you can see, the difference isn’t much, but for an average Indian car user, it’s enough to make a difference, especially if you consider that the Ignis also delivers higher performance.

Hence, as per us, those of you who have been thinking of buying the new Hyundai Santro AMT can instead spend a bit more and drive home a brand-new Maruti Ignis AMT instead, and even save some money while at it.

Thanks to all the discount offers, one can now choose a more premium car that offers a higher mileage, better performance, looks funkier, has many SUV characteristics and even provides a more extensive after-sales network along with really affordable running costs. Between these two, the Maruti Ignis AMT is our pick after factoring in the discounts.