‘Jo dikhta hai woh bikta hai’ (what looks good, sells well). That is the usual psyche in India and Maruti Suzuki is quite aware about the same. That is the reason India’s largest carmaker resorts to special edition models very frequently. A few months back, it was rumoured that Maruti Suzuki would launch the Wagon R Stingray in India, a news which was quite hard to believe at first. Now the Maruti Wagon R Stingray has been caught during a photo-shoot in India, pointing to the launch being quite near.
The Maruti Suzuki Wagon R is an important model for the company and records sales of around 10,000 units per month. Amid the slowdown, sales of the Wagon R have dropped marginally. Maruti Suzuki is well aware about Hyundai’s plans to launch the all new i10 (codenamed BA) by this festive season and we feel this move of launching the Stingray version is to counter the Korean automaker. Expect the Wagon R Stingray to be launched in India by September, with prices starting around Rs. 25,000/- more than the standard Wagon R.
So what is the Maruti Wagon R Stingray all about? It’s basically the Wagon R under the skin but with different styling elements. The front is more aggressive (with projector headlights) and the rear is heavily re-designed too. The side profile remains more or less the same although Maruti Suzuki might be tempted to adorn the vehicle with graphics and side mouldings. Different set of wheel caps and alloy wheels are likely to be offered. On the inside, the Wagon R Stingray is a completely different beast but we expect Maruti Suzuki to retain the same dashboard which it offers on the regular car, albeit with more equipment.
In Japan, Suzuki powers the Wagon R Stingray with a high frugal 660cc petrol engine (mated to an automatic gearbox) but in India, the Wagon R Stingray will draw power from the same 1.0-litre, 3-pot K-Series mill which belts out 68 PS of power and 90 Nm of torque, coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission. This engine might be offered with LPG and CNG alternatives. With the Stingray, Maruti Suzuki is hoping to pull the young generation towards the brand. The Stingray will compete with the likes of the Honda Brio, Ford Figo and Hyundai i10. The Japanese automaker plans to launch 10 new cars by 2018, across various segments.
Source – Carsizzler