Spotted: Maruti Suzuki Splash And A-star

[ranc]

The site is for real, and kudos to the guy who designed it, very creative guy.

[tarunmadhok]

Came across few more pics of A Star (Alto outside india).

[ankit.jhamb]

check the news section,it says coming on 14th november.

[benbsb29]

Oh my! Look how wide those doors open! Almost 90 degrees!

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Oh my! Look how wide those doors open! Almost 90 degrees!

This is true for a lot of MSIL cars like WagonR and Zen Estilo.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by DCEite

This is true for a lot of MSIL cars like WagonR and Zen Estilo.

While my car was given in for servicing last weekend, i needed a car rather urgently for a day. My friend offerred me his Wagon R. When we parked the car at a mall for some shopping, my wife who usually gives the door a small push only to have it stop after a short distance was nearly shocked to see the door go really wide, and nearly brush against the car beside. Didnt know th door on the Wagon R opened that wide.

[amit]

Look how sharply the waist line goes upwards towards the rear quarter window. The rear is going to be extremely cluastrophobic. I'd hate to be sit at the rear of the A-Star!

Of course, these things wouldn't make any difference to it's sales. If it wasn't a Maruti, people would make a big deal out of it.

[DCEite]

The white A-Star with that body kit and alloys looks extremely hot!
Thats why its in my avatar too.

Maruti needs to change the colour of seat fabric. Looks extremely dull in those pics. Not in i10 class at all.

[tarunmadhok]

News clip i got from The Hindu (I have highlighted few imp lines in Bold)

The Hindu

New Delhi: Even as the auto industry is struggling to meet its sales target, India's largest auto-manufacturer Maruti Suzuki is all set to excite the market with its latest offering, A-Star, promising a green vehicle with fuel efficiency.

To be launched within a fortnight, the five-door hatchback, equipped with all-new KB series engine, will be rolled out of Maruti Suzuki's Manesar (Gurgaon) plant. The new-generation 998-cc engine offers 67 BHP power and has been designed to meet even future environment norms. Claiming that the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI)'s tests reveal that A-Star delivers an impressive mileage of 19.59 km a litre, Maruti Suzuki's Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said the new offering would give yet another choice to cost-conscious customers who can now select from a range of as many as seven of their products in the compact car segment.

Denying that A-Star would be pitched against Maruti Suzuki's own small cars, thus hitting its sales, Mr. Pareek said: "In the fast-growing Indian passenger car market, sub-niche are emerging between various segments.

A-Star will be uniquely positioned that will appeal to altogether new customers. Initially, we plan to sell at least 50,000 A-Star in India every year." Though Mr. Pareek refused to disclose the price of the new car that will be available in three variants, A-Star is likely to be priced around Rs. 3.25-4 lakh.

The company has big export plans for A-Star which will be Suzuki's fifth global model. A-Star will be made in 200 variants and exported to 150 nations across Europe, Asia, the Middle-East, Latin America, Africa and Australia. A-Star will fuel parent company Suzuki¿s ambition of re-entering the European market stronger.

The export of A-Star is likely to begin early next year with around one lakh units; and later it will contribute half of Maruti Suzuki's overall export target of 2-lakh units by 2010-11. With A-Star, Maruti Suzuki is starting an all new-initiative of making all its car comply with 'end of life vehicle' (ELV) specifications, making it recyclable up to 95 per cent.

[romeomidhun]

Source: wheelsunplugged

"According to reports in the media, Maruti Suzuki India Limited will launch its global hatchback car, A-Star, in the country on 19th November'08. The five-door car, which has been conceived by Indian designers, would be available in three variants — LXI, VXI and ZXI. Once launched, it would be the second made-in- India car after i10 to make its global debut in India.

These models would be priced in the range of Rs 3.85 lakh to Rs 4.75 lakh (ex-showroom price) and would be would be pitted against other models in the premium A2 segment like Hyundai's i10, Tata Motors' Indica Vista, Fiat's Palio, etc. It was reiterated by the company that the car would be equipped with a one litre K-series petrol engine developed in-house by Suzuki engineers.

The much awaited model would be the fifth global strategic model from Maruti Suzuki. Based on the Suzuki A-Star Concept (which premiered at the New Delhi Auto Expo in January'08, the production version was unveiled during the 2008 Paris Auto show as Suzuki Alto. The car would be built solely at Maruti's existing plant at Manesar, Haryana and would be catering to both the domestic and overseas markets, especially Europe.

According to reports in the media, the new Alto will be powered by a brand new 3 cylinder, 12 valve, Euro 5 compliant 996-litre engine and will be coupled to a 5-speed manual box. The engine will have the maximum power of 68bhp@6,000 rpm and 90 Nm of torque, with a mileage of 22 kmpl and is believed to emit 109 gm/km of Co2. The car is also tipped to have a top speed of 155 kmph and will be one of the greenest cars in terms of emissions to be sold in India when it is launched.

The styling is the toned down from the concept car which was first unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo earlier this year. The high bonnet line, low grille and the vertically stacked 'toddler eye' headlamps at the front make it look one of the jazziest cars on Indian roads. The shoulder line sweeps upwards just like the Swift as it meets the rear quarter panel resulting in smaller glass house for the rear windows.

According to a senior representative of MSIL, there are a variety of customers with varied expectations and having a wide range of cars enables the company to cater to the market's various price segments. He has also mentioned that the company will position the new A-Star just below the Suzuki Swift."

[opendro]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

These models would be priced in the range of Rs 3.85 lakh to Rs 4.75 lakh (ex-showroom price) and would be would be pitted against other models in the premium A2 segment like Hyundai's i10, Tata Motors' Indica Vista, Fiat's Palio, etc.

Poor Vista and Palio

[Technocrat]

Poor Vista and Palio

They are still better on interior space

[tarunmadhok]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Source: wheelsunplugged

These models would be priced in the range of Rs 3.85 lakh to Rs 4.75 lakh (ex-showroom price) and would be would be pitted against other models in the premium A2 segment like Hyundai's i10, Tata Motors' Indica Vista, Fiat's Palio, etc. It was reiterated by the company that the car would be equipped with a one litre K-series petrol engine developed in-house by Suzuki engineers. "

Swift Petrol LDI comes for 4.20 Lakh and i10Kappa base model for 4 Lakh (Chandigarh Ex SR Price) and on that dealer are giving 15-18k corporate discount on them.

My point here is if A-Star is to be priced for 3.85 - 4.75 Lakhs, it wont sell well as both i10 and swift have more space and bigger engines then the A-Star has got.

If A-Star has to be a hit, it sould be be priced above 3.50 lakhs (Base model).

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by tarunmadhok

Swift Petrol LDI comes for 4.20 Lakh and i10Kappa base model for 4 Lakh (Chandigarh Ex SR Price) and on that dealer are giving 15-18k corporate discount on them.

Swift Petrol LDI?
Isn't it LXi?

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by tarunmadhok

Swift Petrol LDI comes for 4.20 Lakh

May be Swift Petrol LXi...