The Ciaz diesel has been cited as underpowered as per customer feedback and Maruti could plonk the new 1.6-litre diesel as a stop gap measure till its self-developed 1.5 diesel comes along.
Maruti Suzuki will be entering the compact SUV space next month with the S-Cross premium crossover that will rival the Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano and the upcoming Hyundai Creta in the same space. While the S-Cross is the new premium product from Maruti after the Ciaz, the company will also introduce a new 1.6-litre diesel engine sourced from Fiat on the model. Now, a recent online report suggests that this new 1.6L diesel could find purpose under the hood of the Ciaz sedan as well, which has been deemed as underpowered as per customer feedback.
Maruti currently uses the 1.3-litre DDiS diesel motor (also sourced from Fiat) on the Ciaz that is tuned to produce 90 PS and 200 Nm of torque, paired to a 5-speed manual gearbox. While the sedan comes loaded with features, the power output is far from satisfactory and one of the lowest in the segment. Nonetheless, this problem can be solved with the 1.6-litre diesel unit that makes around 120 PS of power. Given how significantly expensive the Ciaz 1.6 diesel will turn out to be, the company will retain the 1.3 versions as well to keep the base price low. In addition, the Ciaz 1.6 is likely to get a host of feature upgrades including LED DRLs, rear spoiler as well as a body kit, all of which have been seen on the Ciaz RS in the past.
The 1.6-litre diesel engine though is more of a stop-gap measure for Maruti Suzuki. The company has commenced work on developing its own 1.5-litre diesel engine that will hit the market sometime in 2017 and is likely to power a host of models for the automaker including the YRA premium hatchback and the YBA sub 4-metre compact SUV. At present, Maruti has diverted its energy towards the launch of the S-Cross that needs to be a success for the automaker’s premium initiative to gain momentum.
Source – EconomicTimes.com
