Made-in-Thailand Celerio to go on sale in UK from February

The Suzuki Celerio, which had its world premiere at the New Delhi Auto Expo in January 2014 and has subsequently seen much success in the Indian market, will go on sale in the UK in early 2015. It is learnt the car will cost from £7,999 (Rs 7.73 lakh) when it goes on sale in the UK. 

Suzuki describes the Celerio as an 'A+ compact' car, because of the additional interior space it offers. It measures 3600mm long and 1600mm wide with a 2425mm wheelbase. Luggage space measures 254 litres, fractionally more than a Hyundai i10.

The Suzuki Celerio is powered by a 998cc three-cylinder petrol engine developing 67bhp. There are no official performance statistics available for the European cars yet, but the Indian-market models record a 0-100kph time of around 15 seconds. Suzuki says the first cars to go on sale will emit 99g/km of CO2, before a series of engine revisions introducing the company's new Dualjet technology bring these down to 84g/km in summer 2015.

Manual versions will be offered to start off with, while an automated manual transmission will be available from the summer. Suzuki says the Auto Gear Shift (AGS) transmission will have no negative impact on fuel economy.

Two trim levels will be available to start with: SZ3 and SZ4. The SZ3 starts at £7999 and comes with alloy wheels, air conditioning, DAB digital radio, Bluetooth, a USB connection and a CD player. The SZ4 additions include polished alloy wheels, rear electric windows, front foglights, body-coloured door mirrors and a chrome front grille. The engine changes in summer 2015 are expected to bring a slight price increase of around £500 (Rs 48,000).

Meanwhile, according to Autocar UK, Suzuki has confirmed the Celerio will replace the Alto and Splash in the UK, with the Splash going off sale at the end of the year, and the Alto no longer offered from March 2015. The Rayong plant, which opened in March 2012 with the assembly of the Swift, produces the Celerio for the Thai domestic market.  

The Indian-market Celerio is built at the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, Haryana, but a spokesman confirmed the UK models will be built in the Rayong plant in Thailand. Left-hand-drive models will go on sale at the end of 2014, with right-hand-drive cars available in February 2015.

Suzuki's Thailand facility is gradually increasing exports to global markets with a focus on Europe. Other key markets it is targeting are Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

Suzuki has also announced that it sold 2.69 million cars globally between January and December 2013, volumes that were comparable to the previous period. Suzuki sold 197,000 units in Europe, and following the introduction of the SX4 S-Cross in September, sales have grown by 12 per cent year on year and the firm expects continued growth this year.

The firm’s main European plant in Hungary has reached 161,000 units and bosses have confirmed that Suzukis built in Europe will be sold in non-European markets.