Swaraj Baggonkar Moneycontrol News
Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest car maker, on Monday shared details about its upcoming compact sedan Dzire, which will go on sale next month.
The new car will sport a completely redone exterior and interior styling and will take on the newly launched Tigor by Tata Motors, Xcent by Hyundai, Figo Aspire by Ford and Ameo by Volkswagen, all of which were launched in the last two years.
Dzire, which has been the second-highest selling car for the Delhi-headquartered company, commanding a 50 percent share in its segment, has undergone a generational shift at a time when the segment is witnessing fresh action. Mini car Alto is the largest-selling car for Maruti and for India.
Built on a fifth generation B platform, the Dzire, which has already gone into production in India, is built using high tensile steel, making it light-weight and thereby deliver higher environmental performance and fuel efficiency, claimed the company.
Speaking to Moneycontrol, CV Raman, Executive Director (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki said, “With the new Dzire, we have used the same platform which is used by the Baleno. This has allowed us to decrease the height of the car while raising the wheelbase, increase in bootspace and reduce weight. Compared to the outgoing model the new Dzire is lighter by 85kg (petrol) and 105 kg (diesel).”
Suzuki engineers in Japan, who have played a piviotal role in building the car, have paid attention to rear seat occupants and have thus have kept a large wheelbase, altered the seating position to give better shoulder and legroom. Like the Xcent, the Dzire will have the rear AC vents. It took four years for Suzuki to develop this car.
“We wanted to move away from the Swift body-type and give it a more thorough sedanish look. This is why you see a better looking car which is actually a compact sedan and not a hatchback with a boot”, said Raman.
The sedan will come equipped with dual airbags, ABS with EBD across all its variants. An international safety standard – ISOFIX - child restraint system comes as standard equipment across variants.
The new Dzire also comes equipped with smartphone linkage display audio (SLDA) system. The SLDA system allows connectivity for smartphone users through Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Mirror Link.
The car will come with the usual 1.2 litre petrol engine and the 1.3 litre diesel engine. On offer will also be the popular AGS (auto gear shift) transmission in both petrol and diesel engine options (from V variant onward). Maruti is offering eight variants spread equally between the two fuels. Pricing details of the car will be disclosed at the time of launch on May 16.
Further, for the first time Maruti is launching a flat bottom steering wheel, which is a more common feature seen in US cars. Flat bottom steering wheels help in easing ingress and egress.
However, Maruti has taken the game a step further. The company is offering satin chrome accentuation on instrument panel, gear knob, steering, doors, speedometer rings giving it a luxury feel.
The company stopped producing the current generation Dzire last month. The Dzire Tour, meanwhile will be continued to be sold to those who want to run the car as a cab.
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