Maruti Suzuki Kizashi: Launch by January End

 

 

2011 Maruti Suzuki Kizashi

Come end January 2011, the hugely Maruti Suzuki Kizashi, which has been in-the-coming for more than a year now will finally see an Indian launch. Now, the Kizashi, though called by many as a grown up SX4 due to it resemblance to it’s smaller stable mate is set to be Maruti Suzuki’s salvo to counter the Japanese duo of the Toyota Corolla Altis and the Honda Civic apart from General Motors’ Chevrolet Cruze and the Skoda Laura. That’s a long list of very capable cars that the Kizashi has to take on and for this very reason, Maruti Suzuki better get the price and positioning just right.

 

 

2011 Maruti Suzuki Kizashi 

This, as the past hasn’t been all rosy for Maruti Suzuki in the INR 10 Lakh plus segment, where snob value counts in order to sell a car and Maruti, for long a small car maker, simply hasn’t been able to make the cut. Case in point is the Suzuki Grand Vitara, which is almost as elusive as the Royal Bengal Tiger. The Kizashi, while finding the going uphill initially has plenty of cheer too as Maruti dealerships and service centers in almost all the nook and crannies of the Nation means that the folks who otherwise stayed away from say the Civics and Lauras of the world, would actually have no hesitation in bringing home the Kizashi.

 

2011 Maruti Suzuki Kizashi 

Now, that is news, for, the Kizashi brings in a 2.4 Liter petrol motor good for 185 bhp of shove and 230 Nm of twist. That’s a lot of power when compared to the options that the Kizashi has in the name of competition like the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla Altis. While we very well knew that the Kizashi would feature the 2.4 Liter Petrol engine ever since the 2010 Auto Expo, we were more than a little uncertain about the segment at which it would be launched due to this very reason. While we expected the Kizashi to sit at a segment above that of the Civics and Corollas of this world, this evidently isn’t the story now.

 

2011 Maruti Suzuki Kizashi 

Pricking this very bubble, we’ve learnt from a reliable source, in this case the tweet of Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, of the Car and Bike Show fame, that the Maruti Suzuki Kizashi is going to be priced lesser than a Honda Civic. The price also means that the Kizashi will be assembled at Maruti’s Manesar plant in Haryana. Now, that is one thing the market will certainly love hearing even as the other manufacturers would scurry for cover as the new power king in the segment will drive into town, sometime just before January 2011 rolls into February, and at a price that looks like the veritable killer punch that Maruti always has been delivering to it’s competition. Watch this space.