We earlier reported the launch of the Maruti Suzuki Kizashi to be in January, but car market leader has now postponed the same to the 2nd of February, 2011. The Kizashi will be completely imported (CBU) from Suzuki’s facility in Japan and will rival the Chevrolet Cruze, Skoda Laura, Honda Civic and Volkswagen Jetta. Maruti Suzuki might consider local assembly of the Kizashi depending on the sales of the car. Powered by a 2.4 liter petrol engine, the Kizashi will be available in both manual and automatic variants.
“This (Kizashi) is our attempt to be future ready, as we believe the A4 and A5 segment (luxury) is going to grow. It is small at the moment but the way the economy is growing, this segment is going to be big,” Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer Mayank Pareek said. “In another 5-7 years time, this volume is going to be big and to sustain our leadership position in the market we are looking at this segment seriously,” he added.