First launched in the year 2008, the Maruti Dzire came in as a replacement for the highly successful Esteem, a C1-segment offering that easily outsold the likes of Hyundai Accent, Ford Ikon, Opel Corsa and Tata Indigo. The Dzire, however, has tuned out to be a lot more popular than its predecessor.
In its third generation now, the Swift-based sedan turned out to be the highest-selling car of the country last year by outclassing its own sibling, the bargain-basement Maruti Alto. Here are as many as 9 reasons that make this C1-segmenter the hot favourite of the car buying lot.
1. Trusted Engines
The Maruti Dzire is on sale with both petrol and diesel engine options that deliver a good mix of performance and fuel efficiency. These engines are highly reliable and are known to last lakhs of kilometres without requiring major rework. Moreover, the engines are known for their bullet-proof reliability and both of the motors play a huge role in making the Dzire one of the most trusted car brands of the industry.
The petrol engine of the Maruti Dzire outputs a maximum power of 81.80 bhp and a peak torque of 113 Nm. On the other hand, the diesel motor outputs of 73.75 bhp and a peak torque of 190 Nm. What’s even better is that both the models are available with both 5-speed manual and AMT options.
2. Affordable Price
On sale in a price range of Rs 5.83-9.58 lakh. At this price point, the Dzire comes across as a decent value-for-money option. The Honda Amaze, for example, costs Rs 5.93-9.79 lakh, which is a pretty noticeable difference in this price-sensitive difference. The VW Ameo, which is the only German model on sale in this category, retails for up to Rs 10 lakh.
Another factor working in favour of the Dzire is that it’s priced closely to the Maruti Baleno, which costs Rs Rs 5.68- 9 lakh. Hence, many B2-hatchback buyers can instead choose for the Dzire and benefit from the sedan body style.
3. Decent Space
The third generation Maruti Dzire is significantly bigger than its previous iteration. With an overall width of 1,735 mm, the Dzire is even wider than the Maruti Ciaz, which is 1,730 mm wide. The large dimensions of the Swift-based compact sedan have a direct relation with the spacious interior it offers.
In spite of being a sub-4-metre offering, this compact sedan can easily seat three occupants on the rear seat. Also, there is ample legroom for the passengers of both the rows. Even the boot space, at 378-litres, is quite big for a sub-4-metre model and can carry a lot of luggage.
4. Easy Maintenance
One of the biggest advantages of most Maruti Suzuki models is that they are easy to maintain and the Dzire is no different in this aspect. In fact, maintaining this compact sedan costs only as much as what you would spend on the Swift, which is from a segment below. This has been made possible due to the high parts sharing with the popular hatchback.
5. High Mileage
The diesel-powered Maruti Dzire has an ARAI-tested mileage of 28.4 kmpl, which is the highest figure for any ICE-powered car on sale in the country. Even the mileage of the petrol variant is quite high, with an ARAI-tested figure of 22 kmpl. Even in the real world conditions, you can extract up to 24 kmpl from the diesel version and roughly 21 kmpl from the petrol model. The high mileage is a great bonus for the fuel efficiency-hungry crowd of Indian car buyers.
6. Great Resale Value
Thanks to many qualities, the Maruti Dzire enjoys a great popularity in both new and used car market. What this means is that owners of the Dzire can recover a great percentage of their initial investment on selling their car in the used car market.
7. Widest Service Network
Another reason for the high demand for the Maruti Dzire is the best-in-the-industry service network of its manufacturer. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd enjoys a wide service network with thousands of touch points. Hence, one thing that you can be sure of is that you won’t ever be too far from an authorized service centre that can help you in times of trouble.
8. Nice Design
We must say that the design of the Maruti Dzire has come a long way over the last two generations. While the earlier two versions of the Maruti Dzire were derived from the Maruti Swift, the third-gen model, which is on sale currently, was developed alongside the third-gen Swift.
What this means is that the Dzire no longer looks like an afterthought and manages to have its own distinct identity in spite of sharing in plenty with the latest Swift. And we must add here that the wider track, the chrome-infused grille, and that Kizashi-like posterior makes the Dzire one of the most attractive sub-4-metre compact sedans around.
9. Tour Version
The last reason for the high popularity of the Maruti Dzire is due to the availability of the taxi-only ‘Tour’ variant. The Dzire Tour is a stripped-down version of the regular model that caters to the commercial vehicle segment.
While the Maruti Dzire Tour is definitely devoid of many convenience- and comfort-enhancing features, what works in its favours is that the cabin is highly spacious and offers low NVH levels. Also, the high popularity in the commercial segment is due to the frugal and highly reliable engine, which translates into really low operating costs for the owner.