Maruti Ciaz spotted testing with some updates

[Foxbat]

I took delivery of a Ciaz Alpha Diesel about two weeks ago. The salesman said he hasn't heard about any updates or new version coming anytime soon. He said the S-Cross facelift would be coming around Diwali.

[bhpfaninblr]

Cruise Control addition in the Ciaz facelift would be great. Is anybody able to spot the cruise control buttons inside the Ciaz facelift?

[Leoshashi]

My wishlist for the upcoming Ciaz facelift

-Another set of engines, just like the Verna/Creta: 1.5 or 1.6 NA Petrol & 1.6 DDiS diesel along with the exisiting 1.4L P & 1.3L D engines. Let the lower capacity engines continue to keep your highest mileage in segment tag intact.

-Diamond cut 16 inch alloys like the Dzire. Again, please don't give tasteless designs like the S Cross or Baleno

-LED Projector Headlamps(from the Ignis)

-Front grill from the Suzuki Alivio

-Android Auto(Dzire)

-Cruise Control(S Cross)

-Sliding front armrest (S Cross)

-Optional black interiors(RS)

-Well rounded suspension like the S Cross. Current one is too soft for my liking

-Puddle lamps(Baleno)

-Color MID(Baleno)

-Slightly larger rear seat squab to improve underthigh support.

-Full Size alloy spare wheel(too much to ask??)

-Cladding to cover the internals of the boot lid(Honda city, the derrière is same anyway )

-Adjustable rear headrests

-UV cut glass like the Baleno

-Tasteful DRLs

-Optional sunroof

With these upgrades, the Ciaz will become the perfect sedan IMO. Most of the upgrades can be done from their Existing Parts Bin(EPB)

Regards,
Shashi

[Amey Kulkarni]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Whatever Maruti is doing with the Ciaz, it is terrible timing!

This should have coincided with Ciaz's move to Nexa. That way, customers would at least feel that the Nexa Ciaz is an upgrade/update over the regular Ciaz. And not the same Ciaz being pricier.

I agree! It's become an invisible product after moving to Nexa; whereas it was a flagship vehicle at regular Maruti showrooms.

Sales figures reflect the same too i.e nearly 700 units drop in Jan 2017 to Feb 2017 Sales and Feb 2017 to Mar 2017 900 odd units.

Cheers,
Amey

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I believe they did it in a hurry because of the new DZire, which gets much better features now at a lower price point, which would have taken many customers from the Ciaz. Maruti did a smart move moving it to NEXA.

Now comes the real task of making it worthy of the NEXA badge, and taking the facelift City head on. Expecting the features from the DZire to be present in the Ciaz facelift as well. LED headlamps, for one.

True, they need to add quite a few features to make it desirable like the city. LED projector lamps, sunroof is a must. either ways Maruti will be laughing all the way to the bank considering the demand.

[bhpfaninblr]

Ciaz is currently under-powered for a car priced on the wrong side of 10 Lakh rupees. The 1.4 L petrol was plonked instead of the 1.6 L petrol of the SX4 as the 1.6 L petrol was an oil guzzler.
The only way they can have a stronger engine portfolio in the Ciaz will be to either:

• Locally produce the 1.0 Boosterjet engine and the 1.4L Boosterjet engine. Any bets that they have already started it? Companies are not bound to inform the press or the government about the engines they are starting to produce locally
• Source the 2.0 L CRDI that Fiat is locally producing in Pune. The 1.6 L diesel is definitely getting killed as the cost of import is resulting in a very pricey car and low margins for Suzuki

Of course, features like cruise control are needed in a car priced on the wrong side of 10 lakhs. Definitely the Dzire is looking more attractive than Ciaz as with the facelift, the current Ciaz will be like a generation old while the Dzire is just launched and will be a fresh design for next half a decade

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

True, they need to add quite a few features to make it desirable like the city. LED projector lamps, sunroof is a must. either ways Maruti will be laughing all the way to the bank considering the demand.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by bhpfaninblr

Ciaz is currently under-powered for a car priced on the wrong side of 10 Lakh rupees[list][*] Locally produce the 1.0 Boosterjet engine and the 1.4L Boosterjet engine. Any bets that they have already started it? Companies are not bound to inform the press or the government about the engines they are starting to produce locally.

1.0l Boosterjet localization is for sure. What is also confirmed , the upcoming Swift RS for India too will get the boosterjet engine.

Unclear yet is will the S Cross get it in its October face-lift version? If Yes then Ciaz too will get the same engine.

1.4L boosterjet is earmarked for their larger SUV's.

[TejasKinger]

If this article from today's Hindustan Times is to be believed, then it looks like the Dzire has already begun to eat into the Ciaz's pie.

Quoting from the article: "The drop of 8.9% in Ciaz’s sales could most likely be attributed to three factors – the launch of its closest rival new Honda City in February, Maruti Suzuki moving the Ciaz from its regular dealerships to the premium Nexa channel, and the introduction of the Dzire."

That could explain this facelift as a means to sustain the momentum.

[King_pin09]

Originally Posted by Amey Kulkarni

I agree! It's become an invisible product after moving to Nexa; whereas it was a flagship vehicle at regular Maruti showrooms.

Sales figures reflect the same too i.e nearly 700 units drop in Jan 2017 to Feb 2017 Sales and Feb 2017 to Mar 2017 900 odd units.

Cheers,
Amey

Cannot Agree. Please check the April 2017 sales figures for the Ciaz at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...-analysis.html (April 2017 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis)

The total units clocked during the months of March and April 2017 is 11942 units, which is at par with the City's sales of 12219. Post the transition to Nexa, Ciaz has shown immediate recovery and has clocked 7024 units during April 17, which are clearly 1000 units ahead of the City (5948) during the same month. The Vento (564), Verna (682), Rapid (1077), Nissan sunny (105) and Renault scala (-) the other competitors are nowhere in contention. With this fact, I wonder how anyone could label it as "invisible". If one is comparing the number of inquiry the Ciaz receives to those for the Ignis or the Baleno, it may not be a fair comparison as they stand in entirely different price bands. A Ciaz customer would rarely (or never) end up buying an Ignis or a Baleno. The S-cross for instance sells much less than the Ciaz since it is priced much higher, it does not make it “Invisible” as the S-cross has its own group of customers. May be their numbers are lesser due to affordability equations.

I do agree to the extent that the Ciaz lacks punchy motors (esp the petrol unit which is short in refinement as well). However not everyone is interested in "Air-in-Hair" or "Pushed into seats" or "Setting road on fire" experience, and most would settle into sedate driving. It is the overall package that makes it a proportionate and well priced product, thus appealing to the masses more widely.

[Amey Kulkarni]

Originally Posted by King_pin09

Cannot Agree. Please check the April 2017 sales figures for the Ciaz at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...-analysis.html (April 2017 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis)

The total units clocked during the months of March and April 2017 is 11942 units, which is at par with the City's sales of 12219. Post the transition to Nexa, Ciaz has shown immediate recovery and has clocked 7024 units during April 17, which are clearly 1000 units ahead of the City (5948) during the same month. The Vento (564), Verna (682), Rapid (1077), Nissan sunny (105) and Renault scala (-) .

The comparison of Ciaz is w.r.t Ciaz sales nos and not with other vehicles; and shows that the attention has been drawn away compared to what it had earlier.

And the term "invisible" clearly means that Baleno, Ignis and Scross have over-shadowed the product with their premium Nexa features which should have been added in Ciaz prior to Maruti's move to Nexa.

Cheers,
Amey

[Sri Vathsa]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

My wishlist for the upcoming Ciaz facelift

-Another set of engines, just like the Verna/Creta: 1.5 or 1.6 NA Petrol & 1.6 DDiS diesel along with the exisiting 1.4L P & 1.3L D engines. Let the lower capacity engines continue to keep your highest mileage in segment tag intact.

With these upgrades, the Ciaz will become the perfect sedan IMO. Most of the upgrades can be done from their Existing Parts Bin(EPB)

Regards,
Shashi

Excellent points. Being a ciaz owner i agree to all of the above and if they are reading this thread, i would like to add more

- Please do a quality check on bumpy/bad roads for atleast 20k KMS most of the ciaz owners are hearing strange noise popping up every now and then (even on cars with less than 15k KMS).

- Also, improve the driving dynamics/high speed stability (its a car not a BOAT )

[bhpfaninblr]

Not true
The S-cross comes with the 1.4 L Boosterjet and it is not a larger Suzuki SUV

Originally Posted by volkman10

1.0l Boosterjet localization is for sure. What is also confirmed , the upcoming Swift RS for India too will get the boosterjet engine.

Unclear yet is will the S Cross get it in its October face-lift version? If Yes then Ciaz too will get the same engine.

1.4L boosterjet is earmarked for their larger SUV's.

[lamborghini]

While I agree with a lot of members on some of the upgrades they would like to see, such as Sunroof, all black interiors, etc. (keeping in mind the shift to Nexa, and therefore a more premium positioning), I for one would not urge Maruti to launch it with a faster diesel engine (the 1.6).

The 1.6 is explosive, and unlike the S-Cross, I am not sure if the Ciaz would be as sturdy/stable at high speeds + poorer build quality won't result in a great performance car, but more of the older Verna CRDis.
That is they would just highlight the poorer build & suspension more with a faster engine.

instead, given it's positioning as a family car - it would be nice to see an Auto gearbox in the diesel (effectively killing the Rapid & Vento); a competent petrol AT (boosterjet maybe); and better safety all round (6 airbags, etc.).
Provide those, and the sales will definitely jump by a 1,000 units/month.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by bhpfaninblr

Not true
The S-cross comes with the 1.4 L Boosterjet and it is not a larger Suzuki SUV

The comment on 1.4l boosterjet was for India built cars, though the 1.0l and 1.4l boosterjet are available for S Cross globally.

They will keep the larger boosterjet for the SUV above S Cross.

[bhpfaninblr]

I could not find a Maruti Suzuki comment on the same in the media. Is this from an insider source that the 1.4L boosterjet is not on for S-cross and Ciaz?

Originally Posted by volkman10

The comment on 1.4l boosterjet was for India built cars, though the 1.0l and 1.4l boosterjet are available for S Cross globally.

They will keep the larger boosterjet for the SUV above S Cross.