Indian Autos blog

Maruti Suzuki’s existing multi utility vehicle Versa, after a decade of faultering existence, will be phased out for its successor O2 to take charge.

The name of the product has not been disclosed, but a company official said the car will be launched around Diwali, at a price of a little over Rs 4 lakh. The new vehicle will use the Versa’s architecture, and that advantage will translate into a lower ex-showroom price.

The MUV market is dominated by experienced players, mostly with multiple products like Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Toyota.

To make inroads into the MPV/MUV segment and take on the Xylo or the Innova, Maruti has to offer a vehicle that looks and performs solidly. Both the competitors sell diesel variants and Maruti, as we know, is more of a petrol engine offerer.

The 1.3-liter Multijet engine which Maruti has license to, would not be suitable for application on a bigger vehicle. A higher capacity diesel is certainly the requirement and we will have to see if Maruti brings in the 1.6-liter Multijet engine for the o2.

Maruti Suzuki is likely to release in October 09, a new MPV codenamed ‘O2′ based on the Versa platform. This new vehicle is currently in the advanced stages of design and would be rolled out from Maruti’s Gurgaon plant.

Maruti Suzuki India today revealed its plans to replace three of its cars — the WagonR, Omni and Versa. A person dealing with the projects said the new WagonR will be based on the Suzuki’s MR Wagon platform(like the existing model), but the exterior and interior will be throughly made-over. The new Omni will be built on Versa platform to replace both Omni and Versa.