Maruti has confirmed that the Ciaz sedan will be sold via its Nexa premium dealerships from April 1, 2017.
With the move, the Ciaz will drop the badging system of standard Maruti models and adopt the nomenclature system synonymous with models retailed through the premium Nexa chain. As per the Nexa nomenclature system, the Ciaz variants will now be listed as Sigma, Delta, Zeta and Alpha – in line with all Nexa products – and not the existing grades of L, V, Z and Z+.
It is believed that there is to be no facelift to the Ciaz this year, with the car just being shifted to Maruti’s premium Nexa channel. Changes are likely to only be down to the deletion of badging on the boot lid with Nexa cars traditionally only carrying the Suzuki logo and the car name. Maruti will add a new "Nexa Blue" paint as well.
Under the hood, the car will carry forward with its existing powertrains, which mean the petrol model will be powered by the 93hp, 1.4-litre K14 motor, and the diesel will use the tuned 90hp, 1.3-litre DDiS200 unit equipped with SHVS mild-hybrid technology. Both engines will come paired with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard, with the petrol additionally getting the option of a four-speed automatic gearbox.
As it currently stands, regular Maruti dealers are only accepting bookings of the Ciaz variants that they have in stock.