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-   -   Maruti @ Auto Expo 2023 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/261216-maruti-auto-expo-2023-a.html)

India's largest passenger car maker has interesting launches lined up and also cars from its portfolio on display at the Auto Expo:


One of the areas of focus for Maruti has been sustainability as you can see on the right side:


Maruti Suzuki eVX electric SUV concept was unveiled today. Click here to read our detailed report:


Maruti Jimny 5-door was unveiled. Click here to read our detailed report


Maruti Fronx was unveiled. Click here to read our detailed report:


Maruti WagonR Flex Fuel Prototype

Maruti displayed this flex-fuel compliant WagonR prototype that can run on E85 fuel:


Note that Flex Fuel vehicles are developed to run on 20%-85% ethanol blending. They're claimed to have similar performance and better running cost considering possible fuel price differential in gasoline fuel price and E85 fuel:


The car would be BS6.2 compliant as it has an updated catalytic converter and exhaust sensors:


Changes have been made under the hood to make the car compliant with the flex fuel. For starters, you have component and material upgrades - rubber and plastic to avoid ethanol corrosion. Metal components are used to avoid additional wear since ethanol is a drier fuel. These changes have also warranted a new ECU and wiring harness. The ethanol sensor is in place to detect the blend ratio:


You can see the upgrades that have been made to the engine in this picture. There are high-flow injectors and fuel heating on the rail and a heater controller has also been added to avoid cold start issues. Internal components have been updated to run the flex fuel:


WagonR branded steel door sill plates with green accents look funky:


Some thoughtful touches on the interior in a neon green shade:


Maruti Brezza S-CNG

The Brezza S-CNG variant is much awaited in the Indian market. Why? This would be the first compact SUV to get a factory-fitted CNG. Maruti had it on display in matte blue paint ahead of its launch. Lots of piano black treatment on the front looks swell:


There's no dedicated CNG badging on the rear. You just have the standard CNG sticker on the rear windshield:


The black treatment on the door and running board are accessories:


The interiors are identical to the regular Brezza except for the fake wood trim which is an accessory. There's a fuel switch button next to the engine start-stop button. Also, this car misses out on heads up display and 360-degree camera setup:


The CNG tank in the boot gets a cover:


Future of Mobility

Maruti had a section dedicated to their investment in various technologies. Imaginext is the division that focuses on future mobility:


VR headsets to experience different ADAS features in virtual reality:


Another method that Maruti employed to display the ADAS features was using this setup with a robotic arm:


On the tablet, you could select the kind of demonstration. Maruti has been working on road safety technologies through connected features. There are 3 main categories that you see here:


More options that would display videos about connected cars, the all-grip system, and the electric hybrid system:


The robotic arm would guide the vehicle through various situations to demonstrate different features. Was pretty cool to watch:


Maruti's Innovation arm focuses on investing in 3rd party tech creators. One of those inventions was this activity tracker that could be worn by service technicians. It's still a prototype:


The band is called 'KAI' and it focuses on granular gesture control. This provides a more precise output for your hand gestures:


Here's a fun area for Bollywood fans. A Varun Dhawan interacting alias was being displayed and you could get a virtual selfie with the celebrity:

Apart from these, Maruti had some other accessorized cars on display as well. Here's a Brezza finished in satin black. There's still a bit of chrome up front and you also have an accessory skid plate:


Chrome bits on an all-black car look a bit odd. The running board cover at the bottom is also part of the accessories pack:


Here's a look at the rear skid plate accessory:


Standard interiors with the fake wooden trim accessory:


Maruti recently celebrated its 40th anniversary by launching Nexa Black Editions of its cars. Here's the Grand Vitara in the special edition guise:


The Nexa Black edition is available in Zeta, Zeta+, Alpha, and Alpha+ trims of the Grand Vitara:


The interiors are similar to the standard Grand Vitara:


Also on display was a Hybrid Grand Vitara in Nexa Blue:


Just like the Brezza, there was a satin black version of the Grand Vitara also on display. The chrome bits on this car stand out and they'd have looked better in black:


Same goes for the side and the rear. The accessories and chrome bits don't go well with the overall look of this car. The blacked-out wheel arches from the standard Grand Vitara look nice on this body colour:


Nope, this is not the Swift Sport that has been spotted testing on Indian roads multiple times. This is just a regular Swift that has been given some cosmetic updates:


Diffuser like rear skid plate done in black contrasts nicely with the red paint:


This car had some sporty decals:


Even the interiors were spruced up with red accents and matching seat upholstery:


Here's a closer look at the dashboard trim:

On display was this XL6 finished in 'Brave Khaki' paint shade with a dual-tone black roof:


The car on display also had blacked-out alloy wheels:


An accessorized Ertiga was also on display. The front lip at the bottom that you see here is a part of the accessory kit:


You also get side skirts and decals along with chrome embellishments on the door handles:


This Baleno with gold accents was also on display. This will be available as an accessory with the standard car:


Over to the side, you get gold wheels and...


... this nice detailing that separates the black roof and the body paint:


Gold accents have also been given on the inside:


Just like the Baleno, you can also opt for the Ciaz gold edition. The gold touches are more subtle on the Ciaz:


You don't get any gold accents on the inside:


As always there were also some Suzuki bikes on display:


Here's the Suzuki Katana with a 1.0-litre, inline 4-cylinder engine:


The super popular Hayabusa in the 2022 guise:


Also on display was the adventure bike from Suzuki, the V-Strom SX:

Instead of spending on " Stickers / Gold alloys ", they could have skipped as they have nothing remote to exciting to showcase !

Maruti stall clearly shows how not serious they are, either because of :
- Ongoing excessive demand for their cars? Or
- Anticipating recession/cooldown period for a couple of years?

I am expecting them to show Jimny (India/Toned-down version) in the next couple of days, Maybe, if we are lucky.

Jimny will drop tomorrow

Considering how Tata has been giving some cold-shoulder to diesels and petrols, I am willing to give a little space to Maruti for not jumping on to the BEV space as much as others are. We have been hearing horror stories of 3 hour waits for charging + charging time for Tesla's even in a developed country like the US. The convenience of filling up a tank in 5 minutes, including paying for the fuel is still upper most in most car owners' mind. While things will change in due course, the freedom of using petrol/diesel will be around for a good part of driving life of many of us.

I was hoping they showcase the CNG Automatic Avatar for Breeza. There was a rumour that Maruti is planning the first compact SUV with CNG. Not sure if it's there for upcoming days.

Jimny 5-door

This colour really stands out in this lighting. Reminded me of S Cross having a shade of green or something similar, which reflected the same way in similar lighting. I really loved it to the extent that it became my Google account's cover photo. :D

Though I don't have the exact image with me now, got a reference image.

It is a Nexa showroom at best!

MS should have skipped the event.

:ZZZ:Just a normal Maruti Auto Expo outing. A couple of concepts that will surely be watered down, almost unrecognisably for production. Add the current lineup with bodykits, stickers and paintjobs. As usual. Though the unexciting flex fuel WagonR and Brezza CNG foretell future volumes.

Waiting to eat my words with the Jimny and Baleno Cross unveil today. :D

Live event
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ecsUJIshF84

FRONX is the name of the Baleno-based SUV coupe.











Maruti Suzuki will globally unveil the 5-door version of the Jimny SUV.