Maruti Udyog, the country's largest carmaker, today launched its premium sedan 'SX4' priced between Rs 618,000-689,000 (ex-showroom Delhi).

The company has launched two variants of the car and it would provide additional features on the top-end variant, which would be priced at Rs 724,000.

The car would compete with popular models including Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Ford Fiesta and Indigo XL.

Speaking at the launch, Jagdish Khattar, managing director and chief executive officer, MUL, said, "SX4 sedan is just the right car with which Maruti can reinforce its presence in the A3 segment and enhance its leadership. The large number of customers who bought our compact cars 4-5 years ago, and also Esteem and Baleno customers, will now choose the SX4 as the next upgrade option. Besides, people who like to own a Maruti Suzuki car, but were considering moving to competitors because we did not offer an A3 segment car of their choice, will now choose the SX4 sedan".

"The company has already dispatched 1,500 units of the new car and would send out another lot of 500 units tomorrow...The dispatch of the second lot of SX4s would ensure a country-wide presence," Khattar said.

The company is projecting the SX4 as "a bold, muscular and feature-packed car, powered by the global M-series engine and built on a brand new platform."