Maruti Ciaz launch by mid-October

Maruti is just about going to squeeze in the Ciaz for a festive season launch as the car will be launched by mid-October. Bookings will commence from tomorrow with dealers getting a chance to amass a large number of orders before the car is launched. Maruti has already started dispatching cars to dealerships for display. It is typical Maruti strategy to flood the market with a new car as soon as it is launched for a larger impact.

The Maruti Ciaz replaces the SX4 in the C-segment and takes on the Honda City and Hyundai Verna. Unlike the SX4, the Ciaz is more upmarket and comes with a lot more features this time round. These include first-in-class projector headlamps, smartly designed 16 inch alloy wheels (15 inchers on lower spec variants), a touchscreen entertainment system that doubles up as a display for the rear parking camera, climate control, ABS and two airbags, rear AC vents, Bluetooth phone connectivity, push button stop-start system and more.

Maruti has dropped the 1.6-litre petrol motor from the SX4 and instead will feature the two engines from the Ertiga – the 1.4-litre K-series petrol engine developing 92PS/130Nm and the 1.3-litre Fiat sourced Multijet  unit with 90PS/200Nm output. It falls short on power and torque against its competition but Maruti is playing the economy card here. The petrol Ciaz has an ARAI certified mileage of 20.7kmpl and the diesel posts 26.2kmpl making it the most efficient diesel car in India, at least on paper.

The Maruti Ciaz comes with five speed manual gearboxes for the petrol and the diesel and a torque convertor automatic gearbox for the petrol. There’s no AMT for Ciaz like Maruti has for the Celerio. Maruti has also introduced new trims with the Ciaz called the ZXI+ and ZDI+. Expect premium positioning and competitive pricing from Maruti.