Indian Autos blog

Our friends at Maruti Suzuki sent us this TV commercial that will hit the small screens starting tomorrow.

According to Maruti Suzuki –

The TV Ad aims to celebrate the unique moments each Ritz owner has had in his car. Over 1 lakh Ritz models have been sold across the country and each owner has multiple memories attached to his car.

What do you think about it?

Launched in May 2009, the Maruti Suzuki Ritz completed a year in its Indian innings. It didn’t merely complete it, but took the game to another level. Over 68,000 vehicles were sold in this one year period. This is more than what the Swift managed in its first year in India.

Not many hatchbacks could match the Ritz’ stellar performance. Hyundai’s i20 sold 31,318 units while the Skoda Fabia sold 7,383 units in the same duration. The Suzuki Swift and Tata Indica Vista were the only cars close the Ritz in terms of sales numbers.

The competition will get tighter with the entry of Nissan’ Micra and Toyota’s Etios. The Ford Figo has got off to a steady start and so has the Chevrolet Beat, which is expecting a diesel engine in the following months. So expect the number to slide with the entry of the new models.

Maruti has begun exporting the Ritz that comes in both petrol and diesel variants. Maruti is expected to add new engines and gearboxes to the Ritz, especially after the Suzuki-VW deal was signed last year.

Many of us were slightly convinced after hearing Honda Jazz’s game plan (works on paper, might only be a paper tiger). Weeks, even months prior to the launch, we felt Honda were on a weak wicket if they priced the Jazz above all hatchbacks in India.

Preceding the launch of the Suzuki Ritz, we ran a comparo that got many of you talking, some of you said the Ritz was unnecessary while others felt the Swift had to be replaced with something bigger and better to clearly differentiate it from its new relative.

But you know what? We are all wrong! at least for now.

On today’s Maruti Suzuki Ritz Special post, we take a look at the features and specification of the Ritz.

Maruti Suzuki Ritz Specification:

Maruti Suzuki Ritz Engine:

Petrol -

The Petrol version uses an all aluminum 1.2L (KB Series) DOHC, 4 cylinder engine that gives out 85 bhp @ 5500 rpm and 117 Nm @ 4200 rpm.

Diesel -

The diesel version employs an all aluminum 1.3L DDiS 4 cylinder DOHC engine that coaxed 75bhp @ 4000 rpm and 190Nm @ 1,750-2,250 rpm.

Brakes:

At the front, Ventilated disc brakes are used and at the rear, self adjusting drums are fixed. ABS is standard fitment on ZXi/ ZDi.

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Over the next five days, Indian Autos Blog will publish one post on the Maruti Suzuki Ritz/Splash. Today we feature a colossal crash test clipping of the car. We’re no NASTRAN or crash test engineers. We’ve not specialized in destructive testing, but to the common man’s eye, it looks safer than many of the Chinese junk cars that we’ve seen tested.

Crash Test Lesson – The Crumple zone at the front is made of a material inferior in terms of strength compared to the passenger cells. It absorbs kinetic energy and dissipates it by crumbling.

Come back tomorrow for more information on the Splash/Ritz

Few days back, you might have read from the Updates in the sidebar that Maruti Ritz is to be launched on the 15th of May. What you might not have heard is the fact that Maruti officials are going around announcing that Maruti Ritz’ main rival is the Maruti Swift. How uncool is that? Let’s hear what Maruti Suzuki MD Shinzo Nakanishi had to say

Ritz will directly compete with Swift. In the past, when we have launched cars in the same segment, it has helped the market to grow. With the launch of Ritz, our customers would have two cars to choose from in the same category”

Just to remind you, WagonR and Zen Estilo are two Marutis competing in the same small car segment. Mind you though, the Wagon R was facelifted when the Esilo came out. Apparently, the idea was to create a spectre of two new cars being launched.

In Swift’s case however, no major facelifts have been done since 2004, and by seeing the number of Swifts on the road (75% in the compact car segment), i would’nt be surprised if someone says he/she has gotten ‘BORED’ of the Swift!

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Maruti Suzuki India Limited earlier today confirmed their next small car Ritz (globally known as the Splash) will be launched in India on the 15th of this month. The Ritz will be equipped with a KB-Series 1.2-liter 4 cylinder petrol engine producing 85bhp and a 1.3L 16 valve diesel engine that produces 75bhp. Prices and variants will be announced in the launch ceremony.

International Center of Automotive Technology (ICAT) in Haryana began its operations by approving Maruti Suzuki’s next model Ritz (Suzuki Splash in International Markets) to be production worthy.