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Old 24th September 2009, 19:37   #1
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What is the fate of Alto?

Note : Team-BHP's detailed Maruti Alto K-10 review can be found at this link

Maruti Suzuki Alto is the best selling car in Indian roads today, selling an average of 20,000 units per month. This demand is due to many factors like:
1. A Maruti Suzuki car
2. Low cost of ownership (in the 2.25 - 2.75 lakhs price range)
3. Good mileage

But as we know, the engine F8 used in Alto is not BS4 compliant. So Maruti cannot sell Alto in 11 major cities from April 2010 onwards. The obvious solution may be to use the new K series engine from A-Star, and that will substantially increase the price of Alto, and will take it anywhere near to 2.75 lakhs for the base variant. This will definitely affect its sales, as point 2 above may not stand in favour of Alto.

What will be Marui's plans to keep Alto as a low cost car as well as the best seller? Any new engine smaller than 1Litre is planned? Or an upgradation of the existing engine will be sufficient and is underway?

Last edited by GTO : 10th August 2010 at 09:14. Reason: Adding link to Alto K-10 review
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Old 24th September 2009, 19:56   #2
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Alto is my favorite car of all time, my guess is that they will used the new k series engine, if at all there is any increase in price it will be very minor, because if maruthi losses its position in Alto then everything might be at stake for them.

My opinion it will still remain the best VFM car in the 3L segment.

experts your views on this please, correct me if went worng any where.

Planning to get a Alto for myself sometime next year
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Old 24th September 2009, 20:04   #3
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Plonking a K series engine does not mean Maruti will increase the price, With the kind of volumes Maruti is doing in the small car segment they can use the economies of the scale to keep the price of Alto similar or lower despite plonking a newer engine.

And if Maruti decides to plonk the Kseries engine from the A-star, it would be a big advantage in terms of power and fuel efficiency as according to ARAI A-star is more fuel efficient than the current Alto.

Plus Maruti will take advantage of the engine change projecting a Kseries engine the technology of future and blah blah.... for advertising, thereby making sure that current gen Alto will be in showroom for another DECADE(or DECADES).

Last edited by .anshuman : 24th September 2009 at 20:06.
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Old 24th September 2009, 20:16   #4
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Engine Cost is not substantial when you take up the whole Car. I remember when i10 introduced the 1.2 Kappa, the actual cost over the 1.1 litre was only about 8K. But what these manufacturers do is, they'll add up some other accessories and jack up the Cost by 30-40K.

So, in actual terms, the price of the Alto with K Series Engine should not go up more than 5-10K. Also, if you take up the depreciation effect of the Plant & Machinery of Alto Model, then the actual benifit to the Company will be more.
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Old 24th September 2009, 20:23   #5
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1) I think for Major cities, Maruti will offer K series motors and for other cities, Maruti will give two engine options for alto, one that F8 and other K10.

2) Maruti will have a very big advantage in economies of scale. They may not increase the cost of Alto and even if they do, it wont be more than Rs. 5-7K. The economies of scales at maruti is very high.
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Old 24th September 2009, 20:26   #6
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Did anyone check out the new limited edition Alto? Its called Alto Xcite.

The following is the excerpt taken from Times of India :
" The Alto Xcite boasts of numerous features which include front power windows, manual central locking, body colored bumpers, internally adjustable ORVM, two tone interior color scheme, interior color coordinated seat fabric, rear demister, rear parcel tray, body side mouldings, fabric inserts on door panel, remote boot opener, half wheel covers (silver colored), body side graphics, new gear knob, grill with garnish (chrome plated), rear quater trim, and a new decal. All these changes go a long way in sprucing up the Alto and making it an attractive purchase.
Incidentally the Alto Xcite is priced just Rs 13,500/- above the regular Alto model, and come to thing of it, the car makes for a great deal especially when you consider the level of kit and features the car gets as part of this festival celebration. "

Sounds Great at 13.5K extra!!
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Old 24th September 2009, 20:41   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaggoswami View Post
1) I think for Major cities, Maruti will offer K series motors and for other cities, Maruti will give two engine options for alto, one that F8 and other K10.

2) Maruti will have a very big advantage in economies of scale. They may not increase the cost of Alto and even if they do, it wont be more than Rs. 5-7K. The economies of scales at maruti is very high.
If the price difference for a K-series engine can be a mere 5-7K, why they need to continue with the old model in tire-2 cities?
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Old 24th September 2009, 20:48   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by romeomidhun View Post
If the price difference for a K-series engine can be a mere 5-7K, why they need to continue with the old model in tire-2 cities?
This is a possibility that I am not sure about. IMHO, F8 is relatively cheap as compared to K10. Now if Maurti wants to install K10, then they may increase the price by a bigger margin and also sell F8 in smaller cities.

Or Maruti can put in K10, increase the price my 5-7K that is a bit digestible. If they put in K10, then mostly they will increase cost, but considering the rising competition, they may not do so. It remains to be seen, but IMHO, either keep two engine options with K10 equipped Alto costing what is should else, keep one engine and increase increase price by 5-7K.

Last edited by aaggoswami : 24th September 2009 at 20:50.
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Old 24th September 2009, 22:07   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaggoswami View Post
This is a possibility that I am not sure about. IMHO, F8 is relatively cheap as compared to K10. Now if Maurti wants to install K10, then they may increase the price by a bigger margin and also sell F8 in smaller cities.

Or Maruti can put in K10, increase the price my 5-7K that is a bit digestible. If they put in K10, then mostly they will increase cost, but considering the rising competition, they may not do so. It remains to be seen, but IMHO, either keep two engine options with K10 equipped Alto costing what is should else, keep one engine and increase increase price by 5-7K.

I see this !

1. Alto will get K series engine with a marginal price difference.
2. Zen PS + ac , might get a price drop.

To keep the 3 to 3.2 lakh segment running.
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Old 24th September 2009, 22:11   #10
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I am also waiting for the BS IV Alto, but I need to overcome the temptation thrown in by Maruti in the form of Xcite!(Today's edition of TOI-Zigwheels)

My opinion - Maruti has many challenges in deciding the fate of Alto:
1. Initial challenge is to upgrade the present engine to make it BS IV compliant or replace it with a new BS IV compliant engine.
2. After taking care of #1, they need keep the price difference to a minimum to continue as the best seller because Alto will be the only weapon left with Maruti (in case 800 is phased out) to fight the competetion from Tata Nano and the 800 cc Spark which is expected in Jan 2010 as per "What Car" magazine. Spark diesel is also expected soon.

I don't think Maruti will fit in the A-Star engine in Alto with a price hike of 5-7 k. If they do that, what is the fate of A-Star going to be which is about 75 k costlier than Alto. I think Maruti was in the same situation when they had 5-Speed 800 as well as Alto in the market and they discontinued the 5-speed 800.

All these are our opinions as customers, but who knows what Maruti Think-Tank is going to come out with! Tata Nano and Spark 800 cc(if at all it is launched in Jan 2010) is definetely going to push Alto's price down which is good news to everybody waiting for the 2010 Alto!
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Old 25th September 2009, 00:04   #11
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I would be very surprised if Alto gets a new engine when we have the A-Star ! They once tried to plonk the Wagon R engine into the Alto but had to revoke the decision.

Though Alto is one great car when it comes to handling, I feel A-Star is what we should see as Alto's successor.

Isnt Alto over priced? I felt it smaller than a Nano and also the quality of parts used.
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Old 25th September 2009, 03:06   #12
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Maruti plans KB Series engines for entry level, A segment cars

Asked whether all the entry level cars would be equipped with the KB Series engine, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava said that it could happen over a period of time.

"It will not happen immediately. We cannot do that. It will happen over a period of time", he said.

The KB Series engine, a part of the company's efforts to offer the latest technology to customers, is produced from the KB Series engine plant at Gurgaon.

The all new, light-weight, engine series will be progressively introduced in other models over a period of next 3-5 years.

Source: Maruti plans KB Series engines for entry level, A segment cars
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Old 25th September 2009, 09:28   #13
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The Alto Xcite is just another form of clearing the old stocks, so that they can go ahead with the new BSIV variants.
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Old 25th September 2009, 12:54   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaggoswami View Post
This is a possibility that I am not sure about. IMHO, F8 is relatively cheap as compared to K10. Now if Maurti wants to install K10, then they may increase the price by a bigger margin and also sell F8 in smaller cities.
Yes, we can only speculate. If Maruti install K10B in Alto also, what will be the so called 'product differentiation' for the models A-Star, Alto, Estilo and Wagon-R? (I think the new Wagon-R may also get a K10B engine, because, otherwise if they use the K12M in Wagon-R, Ritz's future may be in darkness.)

I wish K10B has a 4-cylinder version also...

Last edited by romeomidhun : 25th September 2009 at 12:57.
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Old 25th September 2009, 14:32   #15
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Alto and Wagon R are new additions to Mumbai's Taxi business. We see lot of Black/Yellow Altos and Wagon Rs on mumbai roads along with Fiat, Indicab and to some extent Santro. That is also one of the key reasons for these vehicals to do such large numbers even at this stage of their life cycle. I'm not sure how the image conscious private buyers going to react specially the ones who used to despise indica for that.
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