Tag Archives: Alto K10

Maruti launches limited edition Alto Xplore

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Maruti Suzuki today launched the limited edition version of its top selling car, the Alto and named it as the Xplore. Call this tactic of Maruti the Hyundai Eon effect or the festive season upgrade. The Alto Xplore is packed with more than 10 new features both inside and out and is available in top end variants – Alto Lxi and Alto-K10 Vxi.

Maruti Suzuki Alto Xplore limited edition now features an advanced double-din stereo, USB connectivity for the stereo, Bluetooth connectivity for the stereo, Leather seats, New body graphics, Body colored bumpers, Body colored ORVMs, Body colored door handles, Sporty Roof Spoiler and in 6 new colour shades.

On the occasion of launch of the limited editions, Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager – Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India, said “Alto has been the favourite hatchback for Indians. With festive season coming up customers look forward for exciting offers. With the introduction of this limited edition we will cater to this need of Alto buyers.”

Alto has sold over 1.48 lakh units in this financial year. Maruti Suzuki launched Alto-K10 in August 2010 which accelerated the sales of India’s best selling model Alto. Alto, a compact and sleek, easy to handle entry level hatchback is India’s best selling car with over 18.11 lakh customers vouching for its lowest cost of ownership, performance and mileage.

The car is targeted at wide spectrum of buyers with starting price of Rs 2.32 lakhs ex showroom Delhi and offers different models such as Alto, Alto CNG and Alto K10. It delivers performance of 68PS power with K-series engine; Maruti claims a mileage of 20.2 kmpl.

While Maruti Suzuki comes out with a limited version of the popular Alto, Hyundai Motors, India’s second largest car manufacturer is all set to launch the Hyundai Eon in India today. This particular car has all the potential to counter Alto’s growth in India.

posted by carazooblog @ Thursday, October 13th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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India to become the 6th largest car manufacturer

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It is a known fact that Indian auto industry has been expanding and growing at a alarming rate, which we all love to see the trend continues. But here comes a piece of news that is worth a look. India is all set to be the world’s sixth largest producer of cars.

The market pundits claim that Indian car production will cross the 3 million mark by the end of March 2011 making it the world’s sixth largest producers of cars just next to South Korea. India stands seventh now.

India will overtake Brazil in the days to come is what the industry analysts claim. Brazil holds the sixth position currently. The driving factor of the Indian automobile market is undisputedly the demand for small cars, which the middle class drive. The economy has been growing at a steady pace for the past few years. The increase in the income and spend-ability of the middle class of the country has catered to the rising demand for cars, which in-turn has made the carmakers to step on gas and produce more cars.

According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), India produced 26.78 lakh (2.678 million) cars from April 2010 to February 2011, and is likely to hit the 3 million mark by the time the financial year ends on March 31.

China is on top of the list with an annual production of 1.38 crore cars.
With several new launches coming up this year, India could produce 34.5 lakh cars in the new fiscal. “Actual sales are much higher than all our projections made in the past. The strong fundamental of the economy and new cars hitting the market are likely to keep the momentum going that should lead to a high growth of 14-16 % in the next fiscal despite the high base of current fiscal,” said Sugato Sen, senior director, SIAM.

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New launches played a major role in stirring demand. “The demand for newly-launched cars is much higher than our estimates. Just two of our new cars – Alto K10 and Eeco – launched in 2010, forms over 15% of our million cars sold in this fiscal. Helped by rising incomes and buoyant economy, new cars will continue to drive growth in the next fiscal too,” said Shashank Srivastava, the chief general manager (marketing) of Maruti Suzuki.

Maruti’s R3, Honda’s Brio, Toyota’s Etios Liva and GM’s Sail are among the 50 new cars, which are set to hit the market by FY12.

posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Alto beats the rest to lay claims on the world’s No. 1 small car

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Just a few days into 2011 and Maruti Suzuki India already has its new year’s gift. Maruti’s workhorse, the Alto, has become the biggest selling small car in the world in 2010, overtaking the likes of Volkswagen Golf in Germany and VW Gol and Fiat Uno in Brazil. This is the first time ever that a car sold in India has become a global bestseller in any segment.

Sales of the Alto surged 25% last year to over 300,000 units, helped largely by a peppier version — the K10 — launched in the middle of 2010. During the same period, the two Volkswagen cars suffered a decline in sales with the Golf slipping down to third spot.

“The K10 has been very well received and has been responsible for the growth that we witnessed last year. We are confident it will do even better this year,” said IV Rao, managing executive officer (engineering), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

The Alto, launched in September 2000, was a runaway success and has been the country’s largest selling car since 2006. It is expected to do even better this year with sales expected to be close to 400,000 units, ensuring that its global stay at the top like in India will be a long one. Lets hope Alto hits 40,000 units a month sales figures ASAP.

We give you the list of cars Maruti Suzuki Alto has beaten to reach the pinnacle in 2010.

Maruti Suzuki – Alto – 300,950 – India

Volkswagen – Gol – 293,783 – Brazil

Volkswagen – Golf – 251,078 – Germany

Fiat – Uno – 229,323 – Brazil

Suzuki – Wagon R – 195,000 – Japan

Diahatsu – Tanto – 191,000 – Japan

Now that Alto has become the benchmark for entry-level small cars, everybody is in the race to produce the Alto magic by planning to produce their own versions of Alto competitor. Read more on the Maruti Suzuki Alto review in our car review page.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 Comments Off links to this post
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Car Makers Play Santa in December

If you are planning to buy a car, this is probably the best time around. Rush to any of the dealerships, they have some or the other mouth watering offer on new cars. Car companies, with their dealers, are offering huge cash discounts, free insurance, exchange bonuses, low rate of interest, lucky draws etc
You might ask: why are the car dealers rushing to attract customers when sales are at a peak? Car sales in India went up by 32 per cent during April to November 2010 at 12.67 lakh when compared with the same period last year.

The main reason of this entire discount gimmick is this: customers usually refrain from buying new cars in December as it becomes a year old just after a month, which usually affects the resale value of the car. To reduce this seasonal drop in sales, car makers in the last few years have been offering lots of sops in December.

Maruti Suzuki is offering ‘savings’ ranging from Rs 20,000 (Alto K10) to Rs 60,000 (in Estilo and A-star) on purchase of a new car in December. Maruti is offering various discounts on 9 of its models, right from base level Alto to its sedan SX4. Additionally, there is this exchange bonus of Rs 25,000.

Hyundai, not one to be left behind, is offering freebies like free insurance, cash discount, exchange bonus etc for its popular small cars Santro Xing and new i10. You can save up to Rs 33,000 on Santro and Rs 40,000 new i10. Additionally, there are some very good offers on, Accent, i20 and Sonata.

General Motors has reduced prices of Chevy Spark from Rs 3.22 lakh to Rs 2.73 lakh and for Beat from 3.53 lakh to 3.32 lakh. Indian car maker Tata is having a ‘lucky draw’ as its ‘Ultimate December Offer.’ If you take part in an online quiz and slogan contest for an opportunity to get a free car or a free gift cheque of up to Rs 1 lakh every day. The hitch is the offer is valid only on the company’s MUV range like Tata Safari, Tata Sumo and cars like Indica, Indigo, Manza, etc.

Ford Motors is offering car loans at only 8 per cent interest for Ford Endeavour and its small car Ford Figo. On the Fiesta, the company plans to reduce Rs 71,000 from the price as a part of its ‘December Dhamaal’ promotion.

And if all these reasons are not enough to rush you to the dealerships, here is another reason. Most of the carmakers have announced their plans to increase car prices in January 2011.

posted by carazooblog @ Thursday, December 16th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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Maruti Suzuki R3 MUV to Launch in 2012

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The king of India’s small car segment is back with a bang after the recent downfall in market share to below 50 per cent. The car maker doesn’t want history to repeat and is doing all it can to regain its market share. Maruti launched the Alto K10, CNG versions of five of its popular models and the Maruti SX4 special edition.

Right now, demand for Maruti cars is so high that India’s largest selling car maker is not able to produce so many cars. We hear there are no Maruti specials this Diwali too. That’s the bad news, and now for the pleasant part: Maruti Suzuki will launch its MUV R3 in 2012. Maruti does not have that strong a foothold in the SUV and MUV segments in India and we believe this step has been taken to achieve the same.

The Maruti new car will possibly fall in the Rs 7-9 Lakh bracket and will battle against the Toyota Innova and Mahindra’s Xylo. The R3 concept was first revealed at the Delhi Auto Expo 2010 in January. The R3 concept shown at the time was a six seater compact van strapped with 3 rows of seats and rear-hinged rear doors. The concept takes its roots from the Suzuki SX4 platform and appears like a stretched SX4.

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The Maruti Suzuki R3 will hit the Indian customers equipped with a choice of 4-cylinder gasoline and diesel motors, in addition to the choice of a compressed natural gas (CNG) option. “There’s a lot more competition now as compared to 5 years earlier. They are getting into MUV’s, which is a clear sign of expanding the product lineup,” Rakesh Batra, auto partner at Ernst and Young said.

This could be just another model from the Maruti stables earning volume sales for the company. Volkswagen, on the other hand, has plans of selling the new car under its own brand too. The platform seems to be gaining popularity, probably due to its practicality. Skoda is thinking of using the same platform to build its own MUV for the upcoming markets.

We hear that the test mule of the R3 concept will dive into the testing phase sometime around the end of this year or early next year. After that, it will be showcased to Volkswagen. The R3 will be one of the first models to be shared by Suzuki with Volkswagen.

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Volkswagen is currently keen on tapping Maruti’s mass volume and low-cost expertise to access market price points it currently cannot. So, the MUV could be just the first of many future models shared VW and Suzuki in India and possibly for exports to emerging markets.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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Maruti Offers Big Discounts During the Festive Season

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The festive season in India has arrived, and so have car discounts. And Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has already outdone the competition to take the lead and make the most of this opportunity. Despite enjoying record sales month after month, and long waiting periods on most of its models, MSI has increased discounts this festival season compared to the ones offered last year.

Typically when demand surpasses supply, which is the situation right now with MSI, a company would do one of these two things – reduce the discounts or charge a premium. But Maruti’s course of action seems quite different. What could be the reason for that? Let’s find out.

Sources are saying that the company is doing this to beat the competition, even though it is finding it extremely difficult to meet the current demand. MSI, in contrast to Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor India and General Motors, who have stocked up, has a very limited inventory that would last about a week to 10 days.

“What Maruti is doing is enticing customers with deeper discounts even as it tells them to wait for buying cars. This is quite a unique situation, but in an intensely competitive scenario, Maruti has little choice,” said a source.

Maruti Suzuki Alto F8 and K-10 are facing strong competition from Hyundai Santro, Tata Indica and the Tata Nano, and there is almost no waiting period for these models. To make matters worse similar discounts are also available on these cars.

“Surprisingly, in spite of robust demand, discounts are similar or higher on most models compared to last year. Most surprising is the discount of the recently launched WagonR. It also highlights the fact that even though demand has surprised on the upside, competitive intensity in the space would keep margins muted,” said Jatin Chawla, analyst at IIFL.

Maruti Suzuki Car Discounts

MSI is offering a great Rs 42,000 discount on the old WagonR, but what is more surprising is that the company is offering Rs 19,000 discount on the new WagonR. A still bigger discount of Rs 60,000 is offered on the SX4 sedan. Despite the refurbishment and all, the SX4 is struggling because of the competition, and those who are intent on having a Maruti sedan, opt for the DZire instead.

Surprisingly, the discount on Swift, which is one of the best sellers, is merely Rs 5000. Currently, buyers of the diesel variants of the Swift and Swift Dzire are facing a waiting period of over six weeks. The newly launched Alto K-10 has a waiting period of over four weeks and the remaining cars about three weeks each. Only the M800 and some variants of the Estilo are available without a waiting period.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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The First Unmasked Images of the New Hyundai i10

New Hyundai_i10

If Maruti Suzuki is India’s largest selling car maker, Hyundai is following close behind. Hyundai Motor India Limited has been trying its best to pose a tough competition to Maruti. Maruti Suzuki thought of a clever way to increase its market share. The car maker launched a facelifted version of its bestseller and embedded in it a more powerful motor. The trick seems to have worked. The new Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 has been launched in India with the much-hyped 1000-cc K-Series engine and a host of appealing features.

Not to worry, Hyundai isn’t too far. The country’s second largest car maker has also been getting itself equipped with a facelifted version of its hottest selling model, the Hyundai i10. The news was in the air earlier. But now, it’s almost clear that the facelifted i10 will soon see a launch. Our friends at Overdrive have managed to get their hands on the first undisguised image of the facelifted Hyundai i10.

The new Hyundai i10 will be showcased at this year’s Paris Motor Show which will be held next month, from the 2nd to the 16th of October, 2010. Have a closer look at the images and you will see an all-new front fascia. Behold the new grille! While the current model has a clean cut radiator grille with the Hyundai signature hanging in the middle, the new grille will have the logo right in the centre with chrome accentuation on either side; like a pair of wings trying to take Hyundai higher in the air.

Then there’s the more aggressive head lamp cluster and sporty bumper assembly. Do the changes end at that? Well, we think even the rear is gonna get revamped. However, at the moment, there’s just one image of the new car to feast our eyes upon, and that image reveals only the front fascia. Let’s see if we can get more info on the new car before the Paris Motor Show. If we get something, we will share it with you. So, stay tuned!

The new Alto was given a new engine. What about the Hyundai i10? Will it get a new heart? We hear that Hyundai too is changing the power plant of its bestseller. The new Hyundai i10 will get a 1.2-litre Kappa motor with Variable Valve Timing Technology or VTVT. With the new powerplant, the i10 will be even more alert delivering a better response even at a low speed.

The Hyundai i10, delivering an outstanding mileage of 19.81 kmpl, has already been named the most fuel-efficient petrol car in its segment. Here’s more! The new motor will be peppier than the current one. It is going to spew out even more power (nearly an additional 2 bhp) and will an even better mileage. We hear that the carbon dioxide emissions too are going to be lesser than the current model.

A better fuel economy and less polluting i10 will yield tax benefits in Europe. The current 1.1-litre iRDE motor may still remain in the car maker’s Indian portfolio though. Meanwhile, let’s hope the new car makes a quick entry into the Indian car market.

We believe the 2010 Hyundai i10 will enter in a wider variety of dashing shades and variants. It may also come with an automatic option. The only other car in that segment offering an automatic transmission is the Maruti Suzuki A-star. Well, let’s just wait for the accurate details and specifications to come out.

posted by carazooblog @ Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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New Swift Launched in the UK

Suzuki-Swift-UK
Suzuki says: From the newly sculptured headlamps, to the sleek roof line, to the wider wheel base, our design philosophy was simple: Make it more ‘Swift’. The new Swift has been launched in the UK. When will we get it in India? Well, the new Swift will probably launch in India in the next few months. No word from the car maker, yet, we wish Maruti is listening to us at the moment and launches the new car as soon as possible.

The Swift has been a hot seller for the car maker not just in India but internationally too, especially in Europe. Three variants of the new Swift have been launched in the UK. Swift SZ2, SZ3 and the SZ4 go on sale immediately in the UK with prices starting at £9995 for the base variant going up to £13,245 for the top of the range five-door automatic Swift. So, that roughly translates into Rs. 7.1-9.4 Lakh for the new Swift.

Have you ever wondered why the auto maker is launching so many models at a time? The Alto K10 was launched very recently followed by the launch of CNG variants of 5 popular models. Now, the Swift! What’s happening? Is it the dwindling market share? Let’s find out.

The car manufacturer says: We all want to do the right things in life. That’s why The All New Swift is designed to minimise Emissions and the amount of fuel needed to get you where you want to go. This is achieved with a combination of engine refinements and smarter all round design, meaning The All New Swift comes with improved fuel economy of up to 27.3 kmpl and low CO2 figures from just 116 g/km.

The Swift SZ2 comes equipped with seven airbags and ESP, front passenger deactivation facility for airbag, electric front windows, remote central locking, MP3/WMA CD tuner with USB port and steering wheel-mounted audio controls. As for the SZ3, it comes with all features that the SZ2 flaunts, plus manual air conditioning and 16-inch alloy wheels.

The SZ4 is a little more advanced. It comes with all features present in the SZ3, plus automatic air conditioning, Bluetooth integrated audio unit, electric rear windows, push-button keyless start, automatic headlamps and cruise control as standard.

The wheelbase of the car has increased by 50 mm while the overall length has increased by 90mm. The 1.2L petrol engine with Dual Variable Valve Timing (VVT ) on both intake and exhaust valves delivers an impressive 92 bhp at 6000rpm. If the Nissan Micra is considered powerful, Suzuki proves that the new Swift is no less. It churns out just 5 horses lesser than the Micra’s 97-bhp supercharged 1.2L motor. Torque is 118 Nm at 4800rpm.

Early next year, Suzuki will launch a tweaked 1.3L diesel motor for the new Swift that will cut emissions down to just 109 g/km while returning a superb 24+kmpl mileage. With 7 airbags and ESP as standard, the new Swift has managed to get itself a class-topping 5-Star Euro NCAP safety rating.

posted by carazooblog @ Monday, September 6th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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JD Power Reveals Maruti Suzuki Offers Highest Customer Satisfaction

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JD Power has meticulously done its job and guess what the results are. India’s largest selling car maker is not at the top for no reason. Maruti Suzuki tops the chart for buyers’ satisfaction with newly launched cars. Sorry to say, the country’s largest selling automobile maker, Tata Motors found its place at the bottom of the list.

An evaluation of new cars from 11 auto makers was done. It was the India Sales Satisfaction Index study. Maruti Suzuki harvested an impressive 819 points on a 1,000-point scale. Now, guess who followed close behind. It was Honda with 816 points and next was Skoda with 812 points. Congratulations to the top 3!

“The success of Maruti Suzuki is largely attributed to the enthusiasm of sales people at the dealership, as well as their ability to understand customer requirements and provide knowledgeable answers to queries,” JD Power Asia-Pacific Executive Director Mohit Arora said.

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What could have contributed to Maruti’s success in the survey? The car maker had introduced the new WagonR and multi-purpose vehicle Eeco earlier this year. These have been well accepted by consumers in India. The much-awaited sibling to the Alto has also been born now and it will almost certainly add the icing on the cake during the next study. The Alto K10 with the 1,000 cc K-Series engine is all set to whole heartedly contribute to Maruti Suzuki’s success.

The current study in discussion was based on response from 6,178 new vehicle owners who purchased their vehicle between September, 2009 and April, 2010. Over 60 models were evaluated. The JD Power study, however, revealed more. It said that buyers of cars that were launched this year weren’t as satisfied with their sales experience at dealerships when compared to buyers of models at least a year old.

Multiple reasons seem to affect the early delivery of the new cars. The new models come with long waiting periods and this could be another reason marring customer satisfaction. “Excitement surrounding the launch of a new model can quickly become overshadowed in the minds of consumers if there is a lack of availability of the model and if the salesperson fails to display adequate enthusiasm, knowledge and skill in selling and delivering such models,” Arora said.

Car makers frequently launch new models with advanced features and competitive prices to boost their sales, but are unable to produce many cars to meet demand. The Ford Figo, Chevy Beat and Volkswagen Polo are examples of some of the recently launched amazing cars that have proved that they possess the charm to attract consumers instantly. But, are they being delivered on time?

Sadly, our dear Tata Motors had to rest at the bottom with 758 points. However, as per the report, overall sales satisfaction has increased by 10 points to an average of 803 in 2010 as compared to last year. The sale of a new car backed by easy financing options can easily bring a smile on the customer’s face. This has apparently helped the car industry post an over 30 per cent increase in sales during this fiscal.

SIAM says, total car sales this fiscal has so far surged by 34.62 per cent to 5,92,405 units, compared to 4,40,069 units in the year-ago period. Domestic passenger car sales have also registered strong growth. Car sales show an increase of 25 per cent in 2009-10 with 15,26,259 units sold against 12,20,475 units in 2008-09.

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posted by carazooblog @ Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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Tata Motors to Start Television Ad Campaign for Nano

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Even before Tata Motors launched the Tata Nano in March last year, it was the talk of the town. Tata put the commercial publicity for the Nano on the backburner and let the ‘affordable pricing’ of the car do all the talking. Since its launch, the Nano maintained a low profile but not anymore.

Tata Motors’ Sanand plant is producing Nanos faster than one every minute, and the company is almost done with the delivery of prior orders. So, now is the perfect time for the company to engage in a television campaign extravagance that will feature the world’s cheapest car.

The TV campaign will invite consumers to experience the Nano and attempt to alleviate concerns about features such as safety, speed, mileage and space, among other things, says Nisha Singhania, executive vice-president for Rediffusion Dentsu Young and Rubicam Pvt. Ltd, which is handling the creative advertising account for the Tata Nano.

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“We did do a lot of research and spoke to consumers. That’s when we realized that the people the car had been made for, had not had a chance to experience it…they were just going by hearsay. So, the objective of the campaign is to urge people to go out there and experience the car and decide for themselves,” she says.

The television commercial will replicate the tagline of the print campaign that was launched earlier this month with the tag line “Now You Can.” A person familiar with the campaign said, “The idea is that it breaks through any barrier”.

In September you will get the first glimpse of the advertisements. Advertising film-maker Kunal Kapoor of Adfilm Valas has shot the ad around the Nashik countryside in Maharashtra. Kapoor specialises in the automobile segment and has shot campaigns for companies like M&M and General Motors, among others.
“The campaign will run across major mass media like print, television, radio and online, and will be aimed at urban and semi-urban areas across India. The campaign will be launched in different regional languages to address different markets,” said the person quoted above.

The company also plans to start a road show campaign to reach out to consumers. “The print campaign talks about space, safety and mileage and the television commercial would also take cognizance of this fact,” said Singhania.
In the ads too, Tata Nano shows its commitment to affordability. Thankfully, you won’t see a celebrity cricketer or a movie star endorsing the car.

Additionally, the ads will try to change the perceptions of people regarding the car’s safety and other features. “The Nano is not a regular car. It is almost like the pride of India. However, the perception is that there is only that much you can get in Rs1 lakh. The campaign will need to bust that myth and set the record straight,” said Singhania.

Talking about TV commercials and all, we cannot elude the temptation of mentioning the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 ad campaign. The ad features a young couple who, after having denied an entry to a discotheque, cranks up the music in the car. Now, that’s some major goof up considering that even the top end variant of Alto K10 does not have a music system!

Anyhow, let’s just hope that Nano conveys the message clearly.

posted by carazooblog @ Monday, August 9th, 2010 Comments Off links to this post
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