Photographs: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters
India's car market leader Maruti Suzuki India unveiled two concept models - sedan Ciaz and crossover SX4 S-Cross - as it looks to enhance its position in the bigger sedan segment going forward.
Amid a slowdown in the market, the company said it was looking to achieve sales it had in last fiscal year in 2013-14.
Auto Expo 2014: Complete Coverage
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Auto Expo 2014: Maruti Suzuki unveils mini-SUV, SX4 replacement
Photographs: Courtesy, Suzuki Motors
"The SX4 S-Cross and Ciaz are models to expand our product range in future," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa told reporters at the Auto Expo.
The SX4 S-Cross, which is considered a successor to the SX4 hatchback in international markets, was revealed in March last year at the Geneva Motor Show. It is reported to launch in India early next year.
Auto Expo 2014: Complete Coverage
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Auto Expo 2014: Maruti Suzuki unveils mini-SUV, SX4 replacement
The car features ALLGRIP 4WD system and a double sliding glass sunroof. Maruti also points out that the S-Cross is rated 5-stars by the Euro NCAP for its crash safety protection.
Internationally, the S-Cross is available with a petrol and a diesel engine. The 1.6-litre petrol motor outputs 120 PS at 6,000 rpm and 156 Nm of torque at 4,400 rpm.
Auto Expo 2014: Complete Coverage
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Auto Expo 2014: Maruti Suzuki unveils mini-SUV, SX4 replacement
Photographs: Courtesy, Suzuki Motors
The diesel engine in question is Fiat’s 1.6-litre MultiJet engine producing 120 PS at 3,750 rpm and 320 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm.
It comes paired to a 6-speed manual gearbox, available in 2WD and 4WD specs.
Auto Expo 2014: Complete Coverage
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Auto Expo 2014: Maruti Suzuki unveils mini-SUV, SX4 replacement
Photographs: Courtesy, Suzuki Motors
Ciaz, on the other hand, will be replacement for SX4. The car concept debuted at the Auto Shanghai in April last year.
Maruti has started testing the production version of this car, with several test mules being spied in and around New Delhi.
Auto Expo 2014: Complete Coverage
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Auto Expo 2014: Maruti Suzuki unveils mini-SUV, SX4 replacement
Photographs: Courtesy, IndianAutosBlog
The concept Ciaz, as and when it hits the market will compete with the likes of Honda City and Hyundai Verna in the C segment sedans.
When it is launched later this year, the Ciaz will be powered by petrol and diesel engines.
The petrol engine is expected to be the four-cylinder 1.4-liter K-Series engine seen on the Ertiga. On the MPV, this engine outputs 95 PS and 130 Nm of torque.
Auto Expo 2014: Complete Coverage
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Auto Expo 2014: Maruti Suzuki unveils mini-SUV, SX4 replacement
Photographs: Courtesy, Suzuki Motors
Commenting on the importance of the two new concepts unveiled here, Suzuki Motor Corporation Executive Vice President T Suzuki said: "In 2004, we had the first global model launch of Swift and these two are in line with that...The two cars we are unveiling today are aimed to meet the growing demand of sedans in India, China and elsewhere."
He said since 1955, Suzuki has sold 50 million vehicles.
Auto Expo 2014: Complete Coverage
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Auto Expo 2014: Maruti Suzuki unveils mini-SUV, SX4 replacement
Photographs: Courtesy, IndianAutosBlog
Commenting on the sales prospects for this year, Ayukawa said: "The automobile market in India is on a slowdown. Our effort is to achieve sales of last (fiscal) year in this year."
The company had registered sales of around 10.6 lakh units in the domestic market in 2012-13.
Apart from the two concepts, MSI is displaying 14 different models, including variants of existing models such as Swift, Alto, Ritz, Ertiga and Dzire.
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