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Old 21st May 2010, 10:48   #31
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Originally Posted by Gansan View Post
I will buy the 1000 cc Alto in a jiffy, but not look at the A Star twice. And please don't include the Spark in the "performance" category by any stretch of your imagination! A 1000 cc Alto with the K series Motor will run circles around it. Why, if it tries to drag with the old Alto VXi, the Spark will not even catch the smoke of the Alto!
1000cc Alto will be my preferred choice of wheels if I ever plan to go for a cheaper car. I believe the pricing will also be around the Spark levels. if the interiors are poor (as compared to Spark) then Maruti has the trump card - the A.S.S. & brand recognition/ loyalty (higher over GM).

Further, those who do not wish to go for the 1000cc Alto can go for the BS3 Alto available in Non-BS4 cities.
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Old 21st May 2010, 11:09   #32
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Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR View Post
Was going through all the posts in the thread without much enthusiasm. But not this post!

90bhp per ton for 3lakhs! Awesome! Bring it on, Maruti.

I dont think this will hit the WagonR. USP of WagonR is space and practicality, not FTD. However, this could affect the sales of A-star which is already facing a tough time.
Dont get your hopes high. ALto being bread and butter model will be heavily detuned.
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Old 21st May 2010, 19:07   #33
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I wonder what is making Maruti tread this line.

1. Alto is their bread and butter model - FE and practicality being the USP
2. A-Star is Maruti's fun-to-drive car - With the new cutting edge K-Series and urban handling
3. Wagon R being the ultimate family car - with more space per bhp

Now with the K-Series on Alto:

1. Doesn't it lead to cannibalization more than ever before. It eats into the potential A-Star pie. With Alto and Wagon R eating away at both ends, A-Star can only look at overseas sales.
2. I never understood the USP for the Zen Estilo with a car like Wagon R around it.

Looking at the market share of current Alto, Maruti will definitely sell the Alto BSIV with F Series (800 cc) engines alongside the K-Series variant, but for how long.
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Old 21st May 2010, 19:37   #34
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Originally Posted by cognito.matrix View Post
Looking at the market share of current Alto, Maruti will definitely sell the Alto BSIV with F Series (800 cc) engines alongside the K-Series variant, but for how long.
And along with this 1L Alto launch, Maruti will stop selling A-Star in India, IMO.
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Old 21st May 2010, 19:47   #35
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Yes that could be a possibility because a-star already is exported as per contract with nissan.but knowing maruti taking a car of the market is the last thing that they ever do.
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Old 21st May 2010, 23:26   #36
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Alto (bread and butter model)
A-star (loaded entry level car, fits in place of old zen)
Estilo (Basically a WagonR for cheap)
WagonR (For the urban buyer who wants space)
Ritz (A basic premium hatch)
Swift (A loaded premium hatch)

Maruti is clearly taking on competition at both ends of the market. You get a cheaper and expensive alternative at the same time compared to competition hence giving Maruti a upper hand.

For eg.
Chevrolet has a
Spark Small hatch, Beat Mid-Size hatch and U-VA full size hatch
Hyundai has a
Santro small hatch, i10 midsizehatch and a i20 full size hatch
Tata has a
Tata Nano small hatch, Tata Indica mid size hatch and Indica Vista Full size hatch.

For each car from a competing company Maruti has two cars to choose from. Hence it makes sense to plonk the K-series engine in Alto to make it a lucrative buy and provide Maruti with economies of scale with lesser engine options.

No car's production will be stopped IMHO.
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Old 21st May 2010, 23:50   #37
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The Alto will not only get a K-Series, but also a face lift? Will this be a mere cosmetic touch up or a complete revamp as in case of the All-New-Wagon-R.

It is unlikely that one variant of Alto gets a complete makeover. IMO, it could just be a cosmetic touch up.

It is interesting though to see how Maruti engineers fit in the bigger K-Series under the Alto's hood, which I feel is already cramped. I am assuming the K-Series would be a K10B, unless a new 800c version is being worked on.
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Old 22nd May 2010, 07:00   #38
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I don't think the 800 cc Alto will be stopped. The 1000 cc one may enter as a premium variant of the Alto.
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Old 22nd May 2010, 08:19   #39
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Why would Maruti Engineers do that when previously they discontinued a 1.1 Alto for specific reasons unknown atleast to me. I am talking about the Alto 1.1 which had WagonR's engine.
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Old 22nd May 2010, 09:34   #40
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If they're going to plonk in the K10B motor into the Alto they will have to redesign the front end. Both the cars which had K10B dropped in at a later stage, Estilo & 2010 Wagon R, had to get its front end redesigned to accomodate this motor.

This motor is the reason for the facelift of the Estilo and the Design change of the 2010 WagonR compared to its Jap variant. So if K10B happens in Alto it will necessitate redesign, even if its minimal.

And if a redesign happens you can be sure that current Alto will be phased out, and if Maruti decides to sell both 0.8 and 1.0 liter versions it will be the redesigned car.
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Old 22nd May 2010, 10:01   #41
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Originally Posted by Sankar View Post
If they're going to plonk in the K10B motor into the Alto they will have to redesign the front end. Both the cars which had K10B dropped in at a later stage, Estilo & 2010 Wagon R, had to get its front end redesigned to accomodate this motor.
So if K10B happens in Alto it will necessitate redesign, even if its minimal.

And if a redesign happens you can be sure that current Alto will be phased out, and if Maruti decides to sell both 0.8 and 1.0 liter versions it will be the redesigned car.
From what I have read and heard, the car will be face lifted, but not replaced by a completely new car like they did with Wagon R.
Yes, the redesign will be there to accommodate the K10B unit. Note that the new Alto is already sold in India as A-star.

What Suzuki can do is to utilize the new Wagon Rs' platform and make new Alto. Just as the Alto sold in Japan. Alto and Wagon R used to share platform till new Wagon R came out and the current Japanese Alto is based on the current Japanese wagon R ( the current Jap Wagon R now available in Indian market ).
With this move, Suzuki will have economies of scale and less no. of platforms.

Selling both 0.8 and 1.0 can be done only if the is old but facelifted. If an all new car on Wagon R platform comes out, there will be a bigger overlap.
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Old 22nd May 2010, 10:23   #42
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I know A-Star is the new Alto for European and few other markets except Japan. Maruti named it the A-Star keeping it in line with the Alto lineage, A Star means Alto Star.

If they come out with a new Alto (Indian context) it will not be a completely new car which is obvious, but like something they did to the Estilo with a completely redesigned front. This will cease the production of .8 liter Alto in its current form. If they decide to give .8 liter alongwith 1.0 liter both engines will be in the redesigned car.

But IF a K10B happens in the Alto, then i don't understand why they pulled out the 1.1 Alto in the first place?? 1.1 Alto was pulled out because they didn't want it to cannibalise the Wagon R sales. Similarly M800 5 Speed was pulled out because they didn't want 5 Speed to cannibalise the sales of the Alto.

Maruti already has got three cars with the same engine in almost the same segment. And if Alto K10B happens Maruti will be in the same situation when they had Alto 1.1 and M800 5 Speed.
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Old 22nd May 2010, 10:27   #43
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I still think they should bring the A-star prices down 50k OTR, instead of putting the A-star engine in the Alto. The A-star is anyday a better car to drive, it's the pricing that is wrong.
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Old 22nd May 2010, 23:32   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sankar View Post
A Star means Alto Star.
Remember reading somewhere that its meant for 'A-segment star'! Don't remember the source though!
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Old 23rd May 2010, 07:20   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by devarshi84 View Post
Why would Maruti Engineers do that when previously they discontinued a 1.1 Alto for specific reasons unknown atleast to me. I am talking about the Alto 1.1 which had WagonR's engine.

Perhaps because it was eating in to the sales of another hot selling model - the old Zen. That is not the case with the A Star now!
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