Recent spyshots have revealed that Maruti is working on a facelift for its best selling product, the Maruti Alto 800. Though the entry-level car was launched only in October 2012, a refresh is necessary in the wake of new competition coming from the Datsun Go, Hyundai Eon 1.0L and Renault XBA.
Based on the spy images, our artist, Shoeb, has come out with this rendering of what the Alto 800 facelift may look like. A major styling change we noticed on the spy images was that the refreshed Alto 800's design seems influenced by the Celerio in many places. The headlights for example, are swept back to an extent and appear sharply cut.
Chrome, which is considered a feature in India, was seen on the upper portion of the grille of the test cars and is also seen in our rendering. The wing mirrors have been upgraded as well and they seemed borrowed from the Celerio on the test cars.
The front bumper gets the addition of foglight enclosures, though whether Maruti actually provides foglights is secondary. Nevertheless, cutouts for foglights may help owners to get them fitted at the accessory section, as the current Alto 800's bumper is devoid of provision.
Expect the Alto 800 to retain its 796 cc engine. Another possibility Maruti can explore is launching its 1.0-liter K-Series engine on the Alto 800 to rival the Hyundai Eon 1.0L (after rebranding the car).
