New Maruti Dzire launched at Rs 545,000

aruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, today launched the third-generation model of one of its best-sellers – the Dzire. The company’s aggressive pricing strategy, starting at Rs 545,000 (ex-showroom Delhi) for the base LXi petrol model and going upwards till Rs 941,000 for the ZDI diesel model with Auto Gear Shift, is aimed at reviving sales of India’s best-selling sedan, which has sold a cumulative 1.38 million units from launch in 2008.

RS Kalsi, executive director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India, reveals the pricing of the new Dzire. 

According to Maruti Suzuki, the new, third-generation Dzire is targeted at the young, aspirational and ‘indulgence- seeking’ Indian customer. Speaking at the launch today in New Delhi, Kenichi Ayukawa, managing director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India said, Suzuki engineers in Japan and India set out to make the new Dzire from grounds up for young customers.

“The new Dzire is bound to create plenty of excitement in the Indian automobile market. The Dzire was specially created for India, and has been one of the most popular brands ever in the Indian automobile industry. Now we have designed a whole new Dzire for sedan customers, to fulfil the growing aspirations of a young and prosperous India,” said Ayukawa.

He added, “The new Dzire is more premium and spacious in the inside, complies with future safety norms and has the convenience of Auto Gear Shift.”    

CV Raman, executive director (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki at the new Dzire launch.   

The all-new Dzire is based on Maruti Suzuki’s new Heartect platform, the same one that underpins the Baleno and the Ignis, making it lighter than its predecessor. The new Dzire now tops out at almost 1,000kg, with the heaviest variant weighing 990kg. The car also gets a larger boot than its predecessor at 378 litres as against 316 litres.

Maruti Suzuki, together with its suppliers, has invested over Rs 1,000 crore to develop the new Dzire which has 99 percent localisation levels including the projector headlamps and the Auto Gear Shift system. The one percent import content comprises sensors. 

Fuel-efficient powerplants
Powering the new Dzire is the same set of engines as the previous-gen model. The third-gen sedan comes with the option of Maruti’s 83hp, 1.2-litre, four-cylinder, K-series petrol engine or the automaker’s ubiquitous 1.3-litre, DDiS 190 diesel engine in its 75hp state of tune. Both motors are offered with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard and get the option of a five-speed AMT unit as well.

Maruti claims a fuel economy figure of 22kpl for the petrol motor in both manual and automatic guise and 28.4kpl for the diesel unit. Interestingly, at 28.4kpl, the Dzire will not only be the most fuel-efficient diesel compact sedan in the segment but also the most efficient diesel car in the country overtaking the Ciaz diesel which is rated at 28.09kpl.

This is thanks to a host of weight-saving measures like the use of ultra and high tensile steels. While the petrol is lighter by 85kg,the diesel weighs 95kg lesser than the previous Dzire. 

Maruti will not offer a CNG variant of the Dzire anytime soon. Nor will there be any mild hybrid or SHVS variant. 

According to RS Kalsi, the new Maruti will be produced only at Manesar plant for now although there is sufficient capacity available at the Gurgaon plant as well. 

Eight variants on offer
The new Dzire is available with a choice of eight variants – LXi, LDi, VXi, VDi, ZXi, ZDi, ZXi+ and ZDi+. All but the base LXi and LDi models will come with the option of an AMT gearbox.

The base L trim (LXi, LDi) gets basic equipment such as steel wheels, dual-tone interior, manual air- conditioning and tilt adjust steering. Importantly, Maruti is offering the new Dzire with dual airbags, ABS and ISOFIX child seat anchors as standard.

The V trim (VXi, VDi) in comparison gets quite a bit of kit. In addition to the basic equipment, the V trim also gets wheel covers, body-coloured bumpers and wing mirrors, wood inserts in the cabin, tachometer, remote locking, audio system with CD, USB, AUX and Bluetooth connectivity, rear AC vents, rear centre armrest, central locking, power windows, electric adjust wing mirrors and height adjustable driver seat.

The Z trim (ZXi, ZDi) packs in alloy wheels, leather-wrapped steering, rear parking sensors, fog lamps, rear defogger, keyless go, auto climate control and electric retract wing mirrors.

New to the line-up is the top-spec Z+ trim (ZXi+, ZDi+) that packs in a fair share of tech. Equipment offered on the new top trim includes LED projector headlamps with auto-on function, new alloy wheels (same size as on the ZXi), reverse parking camera and Maruti’s SmartPlay infotainment system.

The new Dzire will rival the likes of the recently facelifted Hyundai Xcent, Ford Figo Aspire, Volkswagen Ameo, Tata Zest and the Honda Amaze.

Maruti Suzuki, which opened the new fiscal on a high note with sales of 144,081 units (+23%) in April 2017, had initiated online bookings for the Dzire on May 5. In the 10 days since then, the company has already received over 33,000 orders.