MSIL is betting big on the 2018 Maruti Ciaz (facelift) which is reported to launch on August 20 with an all-new petrol engine. As reported earlier, Maruti’s Manesar plant has already commenced mass production of the sedan, and over 7,000 copies have been made.
The company’s monthly production report says it manufactured 7,115 units of the Ciaz in July 2018, however, only 48 units were dispatched to dealers. The remaining 7,067 units is that of the new Ciaz which Maruti is stocking to fulfil bookings which dealers have already commenced (unofficially).
At launch, Maruti is expected to sell only the petrol variants of the 2018 Ciaz, and as per reports, the diesel Ciaz will be available from a later date. There no reported changes to the diesel engine, the 1.3-liter DDiS unit developing 90 PS and 200 Nm of torque, paired to a 5-speed manual gearbox continues.
The noteworthy change will be for the Ciaz petrol, which moves from the 1.4-liter K-Series to the new 1.5-liter K15B VVT four-cylinder petrol engine (the same engine powers the 2018 Ertiga in Indonesia and Jimny Sierra in Japan and international markets). It is reported to produce 103 bhp and 138 Nm of torque, though gearbox choices will be carried over from the existing Ciaz. However, with the introduction of the SHVS mild-hybrid technology, fuel efficiency is reported to have increased with the 5-speed manual variant claiming 21.56 km/l and the 4-speed automatic variant claiming 20.28 km/l.
Also read: Top-end Maruti Swift ZXi+ AGS & ZDi+ AGS launched
With Maruti already having announced a price hike this month, expect the 2018 Ciaz to command an circa INR 30,000 premium over its predecessor. It will continue to be offered in Sigma, Delta, Zeta and Alpha trims.
