Maruti Suzuki India is gearing up to roll out its global city car, the Ritz in India, by the middle of May 2009. The B+ segment small hatchback would be positioned between the A-Star and Swift.
Based on the Swift platform, the Ritz will be powered by a 1197cc K12M petrol all-aluminum 4 cylinder engine, and would be BSIV compliant. The engine which is expected to produce 85bhp of power and 113NM of torque is tipped to give a mileage of 17.8 kmpl, slightly below the A-Star which gives 19.6 kmpl (Remember these figures are according to ARAI and not what you can achieve in the real world).
The car is estimated to be priced around Rs. 4-5 lakh, though nothing has been announced by Maruti yet. The production of the Maruti Ritz has some hints of the Maruti Swift and Maruti SX4. Like the A-Star and DZire, the Ritz will also be a B-segment car and will be rolled out from Maruti’s state-of-the-art plant in Manesar, near Gurgaon.
According to sources, the new Maruti Ritz shall be launched in six variants, which comprises of three petrol and three diesel variants. Both the petrol and diesel engine will have four-valve-per-cylinder mated with a 5-speed manual gearbox, with a five-speed automatic possibly being offered as an option and will also be within Europe’s much debated CO2 emission cap of 140 g/km. The Ritz will avail excise benefits, as its falls under the Indian Governements definition of a small car.
The Ritz has been described by Suzuki as a multi-utility vehicle that will likely appeal to those with small families and a limited budget. The car may replace the Wagon R, though Maruti is yet to confirm that.
The car shall also come with Maruti Suzuki’s standard set of safety features like ABS, airbags, brake assist, etc some of which may be trimmed for India, to keep costs into consideration. Also the engine & transmission options may vary for India for the petrol versions. Ritz is going to be yet another winner form Suzuki, after Swift, SX4 and the Swift Dzire.
