Maruti hasn't had much luck in selling premium cars, be it mid-size sedans such as the Baleno, executive-luxury sedans such as the Kizashi or full-sized SUVs such as the Grand Vitara. That doesn't stop the company, which is India's carmaker for the masses, from attempting again.
The year 2007 saw the introduction of the SX4, and the next couple of years saw the sedan sell in good numbers, at one point even overthrowing the segment-leader Honda City. However, the SX4 is in a dire need of a successor right now as its sales numbers shall now explain: Maruti sold an average of 510 units every month, for the first 9 months of 2013, while Honda sold 2,389 units/month of the City which doesn't even offer a diesel engine!
The Maruti YL1, an upcoming sedan which has its design influenced by the Suzuki Authentics concept shown at this year's Auto Shanghai, is believed to be the SX4 replacement, and the car was caught testing in Gurgaon by Motoroids reader, Mr. Aseem Dhamija. While seen camouflaged in these images, Indian Autos Blog has already shown readers uncamouflaged pictures of the exteriors and interiors of the YL1.
As is the case with Maruti, the interiors of the YL1 see a lot of parts sharing with family members such as the Ertiga, Swift and Swift Dzire. However, the center console including the music system and aircon controls is exclusive to the YL1. We have also noticed the presence of rear aircon vents on the YL1 prototype.
As far as engine details go, we can speculate in saying that the 1.4-liter K-Series petrol engine (from the Ertiga) and the 1.3-liter DDiS diesel engine could be worthy power plants for the YL1. If a rumored early 2014 launch date is to go by, Maruti's homemade diesel engine (of higher displacements) may not be ready by then.
