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Eight months after it was phased out from the market, Maruti on Tuesday unveiled the new Zen sporting an all-new look and under a new name 'Estilo', pricing the base variant at Rs 3.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The company, which had discontinued the sale of the Zen after deciding to go in for an all-new model, decided on an aggressive entry-level pricing to make it competitive in the market, against models like Hyundai's 'Santro' and Tata's 'Indica'.
"Young people in India today desire products with contemporary styling and international appeal. The new Zen will appeal to this new India, just as the original Zen appealed to the India of the mid 1990s. It incorporates features and attributes that are uniquely suited to India and valued by Indian car buyers," Jagdish Khattar, Managing Director said.
The Estilo will strengthen Maruti's position in the compact car segment where it already has models like 'Alto', 'WagonR' and 'Swift'. However, analysts say the presence of many models around the same price band could also lead to some cannabalisation.
The company said the Zen Estilo is roomier than the original Zen and sports a bigger engine (1061 cc). "It is taller, offers more boot space and superior air conditioning.
It delivers 64 bhp and its low-end torque of 84 nm (at 3500 rpm) makes it ideal for Indian city conditions," the company said.
Touted as the marvel in tall-boy designing, the new Zen Estilo, combining great looks and practicality, is the latest offering from Maruti and will be available in the market from Tuesday.
The new version is being tipped as the most ambitious re-incarnation in the 13-year-old history of the Zen. This comes after other versions, such as the Classic, the sportier two-door Carbon and Steel and one more version, turned out to be a damp squib and were phased out of the market.
The Zen Estilo - Spanish expression for style - is an amalgam of Japanese simplicity and European chic. It has been put together to conform to the standards of a rigid 'monoform' design with smart interiors and distinctive aerodynamics.
The car is, for the most part, a carry forward of the original Suzuki's MR Wagon - a popular small car once that has now been replaced by a new car in Japan.
An attractive new shape with good amount of space has been made available in the car, which is a total departure from the earlier much lower jellybean shaped Zen.
The Estilo will sport a more powerful 1061 cc, 4 cylinders inline engine (the earlier Zen carried a 990 cc engine), which has been sourced from the Wagon R, and will generate 64 bhp of torque.
The Estilo shares the same platform as the Alto and Wagon R. The car was launched some 10 years back in Japan and is a bit unrefined compared with Maruti's last offering the Swift.
The large trapeziodal headlamps, straight rear lights and a rear door handle in the middle make the looks outdated. The straight arches on the body rather than curves also make the design look old.
Maruti had discontinued Zen early this year, which was among its most popular models. The company had sold a total of over 760,000 cars of this model in the domestic market and exported 122,000 units of the Zen.
The new car will be pitted against Hyundai's Santro, and Getz, Tata Motor's Indica and may also eat into the sales of Maruti's own popular models, the Swift and Wagon R.
With inputs from Business Standard