The Maruti Suzuki A-Star had a very good start in the Indian market. The car’s styling evoked a good response from the public and it has been selling well since then. But with a slew of new entrants splashing into the small car segment, segment favorites like the A-Star, Swift and Hyundai i10 all lost their charm and sales aren’t very brisk.
Hyundai has already set to work and is busy preparing the facelifted Hyundai i10. Maruti has to add some pizazz to its range. The next generation 2011 Maruti Suzuki Swift would be coming only next year and only other cars that deserves attention are the Zen Estilo and the A-Star.
The Zen Estilo is receiving few cosmetic changes now and then but it isn’t enough, is it? The only option Maruti Suzuki India has is to add spice to the A-Star so that it can attract buyers who are turned off by the Estilo.
Rumours suggest that Maruti could offer an automatic transmission on the A-Star to attract new customers, especially the fairer sex. The A-Star which sells as the Alto globally has a very efficient 4-speed auto transmission that manages 15 kmpl in the city and 24 kmpl on the highway.
The efficiency of the Maruti Suzuki A-Star Automatic could attract buyers who want hassle free driving in the city and could be a cheaper alternative to the Hyundai i10 Automatic.
The Indian market is growing rapidly and with this growth, there is bright chance for small cars with auto boxes to do well. The Nissan Micra could be offered with an automatic transmission by next year and the next generation Maruti Swift could come with an automatic transmission option.
Source: Indiancarsbikes
Image source: TMR
[...] looks to be the new Maruti Alto fitted with the 1-litre K-Series engine which currently powers the A-Star, Zen Estilo and the new WagonR. The new Alto is expected to be launched sometime next [...]
[...] smooth and is said to return about 20 kmpl. The 1.0 liter K-Series engine is currently used in the A-Star, Wagon R and the Zen [...]
[...] Maruti Suzuki is currently concentrating only on launching special editions of the Zen Estilo. After it realises that the Zen Estilo wouln’t really take off and only a replacement could do good, Maruti Suzuki would find time to understand the A-Star needs a facelift and then would toil hard to launch a ‘never seen or heard before’ special edition of the A-Star. With competition heating up and arch rival Hyundai readying the facelifted i10, we guess Maruti could have plans for a ‘facelifted’ A-Star for India. Possibly with the automatic transmission we were speculating about. [...]
hurray finally my voice is heard by suzuki, u know what i read in the autocar mag that they export variants of a -star are automatic versions, soon after i called suzuki toll free number and told them to pass this message to maruti officials, to consider launching the same automatic variant in india also, when they can export the same astar in automatic variant to europe and to other countries,why cant do the same thing in india also, they can lure the customers toward them as i10 is the only automatic variant available with in 5lakh bracket, i will sure buy this variant,as i love automatics but it must have an 5 speed box, rather than 4 speed wont do the purpose,so i request indian autos blog to tell my message that they should consider a 5 speed variant. iam waiting for this car, finally who will believe my story ,but god knows the truth, iam happy that maruti is considering an automatic variant fulfilling its(automatic variant)fans!