Maruti Alto Makes A Comeback in A Brand New Avatar

After launching the new Wagon R - the Blue Eyed Boy of Maruti Suzuki, the undisputed leader in the passenger car market in India is now planning to launch a new small car by the end of July or by early August this year. The upcoming product, believed to be a revamped version of the top selling Maruti Alto, will sport a 1 litre KB series engine that powers the Estilo cars of Maruti.


Maruti Alto, the small car wonder with a so called “heart transplant” done on it, is actually a modified descendant of Maruti “A” star that captured the imagination of the youth when it was displayed just as a concept at the Delhi Auto Expo two years back. The end product though not as flashy as the draft concept is any way going to be a big hit in the below Rs. 4 lakh passenger car segment.

Maruti Alto has been ruling the small car segment as the top selling model for the past couple of years in India. With an average of 20000 units selling every month, Maruti Alto has grabbed the "largest selling small car" tag from its predecessor Maruti 800. In fact, Maruti Suzuki India has already discontinued Maruti 800 in 13 cities across the country. Since its launch in 2000, the company has sold 13.5 lakh cars.

Coming up of the new Alto in place of the erstwhile model with the BSIV compliant 800cc petrol engine, is in line with Maruti Suzuki India's latest strategy- upgrading all its cars with K Series engines. The company has already installed K10 and K12 engines in 6 of its cars namely Estilo, Ritz, Wagon R, Maruti Swift and Swift Dzire.

Notably, Maruti Suzuki India has become the single largest car maker in India to have crossed the slab of 1 lakhs units sales in May 2010. Its Manesar plant is currently producing 10 lakh units of engines per year, of which 2.5 lakh units are K Series engines.