While Maruti Suzuki continues to test the Ritz Facelift in India, the parent company Suzuki has uploaded pictures of the facelifted version on its Japanese website. Known as the Suzuki Splash globally, the Ritz facelift’s launch is just around the corner in India, with a Japanese launch set for next month. Changes to the Maruti Suzuki Ritz are not drastic though, with the exteriors getting slight updates to the hood, grille, bumpers, wheels and tail gate. Interior changes are absolutely minimal too with nothing really note worthy to mention.
Maruti Suzuki will not be making any changes to the mechanicals of the new Ritz with the only significant difference being the addition of VVT technology on the 1.2-litre K-Series engine. Thus the petrol powered Maruti Suzuki Ritz will produce a power output of 86 BHP at 6000 RPM and torque output of 114 Nm at 4500 RPM. This is a 2 BHP and 1 Nm increase over the non VVT equipped motor, but makes the Ritz more driveable in city conditions. The diesel engine of the Ritz will receive no updates though Maruti Suzuki could adapt plastic fuel tanks to reduce weight and boost fuel efficiency.
This minor update to the Ritz is a stop gap method till the all new model arrives in 2014. The next generation Ritz will use the same platform as the new Swift and will also draw heavy inspiration from it. The interiors are expected to look similar to the new Swift, while Maruti Suzuki is likely to drop in an automatic variant for the petrol and a more loaded diesel variant too.
