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Maruti Suzuki Ertiga : FAQs Answered!
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Editor-in-Chief Adil Jal Darukhanawala unmasks the all new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga MPV after a very spirited first hand drive experience in Goa
Is it going to be as expensive as the Innova?
I don't think the Innova is expensive if you look at it from an operations point of view. Sure the initial outlay is large but then everything about the vehicle is like that - engine, drivetrain, equipment, refinement, safety and what have you. The Ertiga will do an Innova so to speak but in a segment one or two notches lower down. While the pricing hasn't been announced as yet (expect this on April 12) I don't think Maruti Suzuki would be attempting to do the unthinkable by pricing it high. A slight mark-up over the Swift D'Zire should be the right approach.
Will maintenance costs be higher than the Swift and the Dzire, considering that it’s a bigger vehicle?
Again the answer to this question is in the negative because all Maruti Suzuki products are a paragon of reliability and the same should hold true for the Ertiga as well. Most of the aggregates are proven and more importantly reliable and refined which should keep the operating costs on par with others in its class within the family.
What about equipment levels? Music player, ABS, airbags, and the whole shebang?
The Ertiga will come with a choice of petrol and diesel power and in each of these it will be offered in the time honoured Maruti Suzuki tradition of three trim and equipment levels - LXi, VXi and ZXi for the petrol variant and LDi, VDi and ZDi for the diesel-engined variant. The top line models in both, the ZXi and ZDi come fully stocked - in-dash music radio cum CD-player with Bluetooth compatibility and iPhone-USB connectiveity. Throw in airbags for the driver and front seat passenger, ABS with Brake Assist and EBD, alloy wheels, rear air con blower for second row of seats and the list is complete.
Will it have flexible seating options? Captain’s chairs instead of the second row? The option of not having a third row at all?
I think this is an area which Maruti Suzuki really missed out on. I think they could have made the third row of seats removable making the vehicle truly versatile but only if the seat guide rails for the middle row would allow the second row of seats to be extended right till the end. I also don't recommend having captain seats in the interior because it would make this into a four-seater and of course Maruti already has the Swift D'Zire and the SX4 straddling the Ertiga. In fact, the mix and match seating options with a removable third row of seats is where the action could be for the packaging engineers and the quicker they get going the better it would be for this segment and also the versatility of the package.
What will it cost to buy and run?
Initial pricing is going to be key, more so in the present times where the excise rates have been hiked up. I think I have already answered on this subject earlier in the feature when we said this car is an extension of the Swift family and so expect a slight incremental hike over the Swift D'Zire. I am sure the Ertiga would be straddled between the Swift D'Zire at the lower end of the spectrum and the SX4 at the upper end of the scale in Maruti Suzuki's product portfolio. It wouldn't make any tangible sense to have the new vehicle closer to the SX4 for that would be counter-productive. On the subject of operating costs, it would be frugal like any Maruti Suzuki product is renowned for and the manner in which the car performs, indicates that it is another winner on the way from the country's largest car maker. How effectively it rules this new segment though will only be known some months from now.
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Readers' opinions ( 21 )
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Amit Modi
Hi..its simply superb MPV made by Maruti. Just done like Do the New..This is my personal experiance...I had my own "ERTIGA ZDI"
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Winston
Good attempt by Maruti to conceptualize what seems like a pretty decent people mover. However, in my personal opinion, the Mahindra Xylo and for that matter even the Sumo Grande are better cars than the Ertiga.
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nizam
like this
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Rahmath ulla Khan
like to know the technical details of the car
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arul
ertiga may be priced at 11-12 lakhs INR
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