The SUV-styled Maruti hatchback, unlike reported earlier, will not be a replacement for the Maruti Alto.
It was just last month that Maruti Suzuki launched the Maruti Ignis to compete with the premium hatchbacks. According to a report from Autocar India, the company has an even smaller SUV-styled hatchback in the works.
Buoyed by the Renault Kwid's success, Maruti Suzuki is working on an ultra-low cost SUV-styled mini hatchback. In just over a year, the French automaker's A-segment hatchback, which has the highest levels of localisation (98%) in India, clocked 1,00,000 units sales, and with that, Maruti Suzuki feels that there is an opportunity.
The SUV-styled Maruti hatchback, unlike the earlier report, will not be a replacement for the Maruti Alto. It will be aimed squarely at the Renault Kwid, and for those looking for a conventional and basic car, the Maruti Alto will still be on sale. Parent company Suzuki Motor Company already had an idea for a high-riding mini hatchback a few years back, which it presented with the Suzuki Crosshiker concept, the successor to the Suzuki Regina concept, at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show.
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The SUV-styled Maruti hatchback is likely to go on sale in 2018, as per the report. It could be unveiled in near-production concept form at Auto Expo 2018.
[Source: Autocar India]
