Maruti Suzuki is the undisputed king of hatchbacks and the same has been proven time and again with the Swift, Wagon R, Alto and now Celerio posting good sales numbers for India’s largest automaker. Maruti Suzuki’s biggest advantage is how it always is the first to bring something new to the market. In 2007, when there was no modern diesel engine on a small car, Maruti Suzuki brought in Fiat’s 1.3-litre Multijet wonder (in the Swift) and reaped the benefits for a long time. Now the company is investing heavily in AMT which will make driving easier on a slew of its cars. The next big thing for Maruti Suzuki is turbocharging for small petrol engines.
Turbocharged petrol engines in small displacement aren’t new but due to cost reasons, aren’t very popular in India. Currently only two such engines are offered – Ford’s 1.0-litre EcoBoost and Volkswagen’s 1.2-litre TSI. Maruti Suzuki will introduce the 1.0-litre DiCT (Direct Injection Turbo Charger) engine which will power the upcoming YRA premium hatchback. The YRA will sit above the Swift in the company’s portfolio, rivalling the Honda Jazz, Hyundai i20 and Volkswagen Polo. The vehicle is due for launch next year and will also be offered with Maruti’s own diesel engine. It will re-start exports from India for Maruti Suzuki and is a very important model from the global perspective of the Japanese company.
Coming to the turbocharged engine, Maruti Suzuki will call the motor as K10C which will produce 90 BHP of power, something bigger capacity units produce. The use of turbocharging will help Maruti downsize, resulting in improved economy (expected to return in excess of 20 km/l) and reduced CO2 emissions. This 1.0-litre DiCT powerplant will not be one of a kind as Tata Motors has already announced its 1.2-litre Revotron turbo petrol engine. Other turbocharged engined cars in the sub 1.5-litre cubic capacity include the Fiat Linea 1.4 T-Jet and Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TSI.
Source – Financial Express