Maruti has announced its Auto Expo 2016 line-up. The most important unveil for Maruti will be the Vitara Brezza compact SUV which will see its world premiere on February 3, 2015. The Vitara Brezza has been conceived, designed and developed by a team of Maruti engineers in-house completely. This project was spearheaded by Mr. C V Raman, Executive Director, R&D, Maruti Suzuki who is also the Chief Engineer of the project.
The company had earlier released a teaser sketch of the SUV highlighting its styling and proportions. With the Vitara Brezza, Maruti seems to be expanding its renowned Vitara SUV brand, which is available on sale globally. We were the first ones to break the news about Maruti’s new compact SUV last year. The Maruti Vitara Brezza (Brezza means ‘Fresh Breeze’ in Italian) features styling borrowed from its big brother sold overseas. It also features squared wheel arches, short overhangs and an upright hood.
The SUV will be powered by Maruti’s existing range of petrol and diesel engines. This could include the 1.2- and 1.4-litre petrol engines and the tried-and-tested Fiat-derived 1.3-litre diesel. There are talks of an AMT-equipped version as well, which will join the line-up in future. The Vitara Brezza will not be sold via Maruti’s Nexa dealerships. This new SUV will put Maruti in one of India's most booming segments, which currently has players such as the Ford EcoSport and Mahindra TUV300.
Concept Ignis
The next big unveil for Maruti at the Auto Expo pavilion will be the Ignis hatchback. This vehicle will be shown in concept form at the show, but there are talks of a production version hitting our shores later this year. The Ignis was earlier shown at Tokyo Motor Show and seen popularity amongst global audience post it’s unveil.
The Ignis sports a large grille with encapsulated headlights, a clam-shell bonnet with Vitara like vents on the side and blacked-out A- and B-pillars. The wheel arches are flared, and the car rides on 18-inch 10-spoke alloy wheels. It gets projector headlamps and some versions get LED units as seen on the concept. The Ignis also gets faux three-slat vents on the thick rear 'C' pillar that were also seen on the concept; they hark back to rear engine Suzukis of the past like the Suzuki Cervo of the '70s. And while the nose looks modern, the rear is very retro, both in the shape of the sloping hatch as well as the tail of the tail-lights that remind us of the orignal Maruti 800. Maruti will unveil the concept Ignis on February 4, 2015 at the Auto Expo.
Baleno RS
The third new model on display at the Auto Expo 2016 from Maruti will be the Baleno RS, which will again be shown in concept form. The Concept Baleno RS will be shown as a sporty version of the Baleno and will get additional styling bits. The highlight of the Concept Baleno RS will be the all-new 1.0-litre Boosterjet turbo petrol engine. Suzuki showcased this engine earlier with the Baleno at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2015. This motor is expected to churn out 110bhp. There are no details on the India launch yet, but test-mules of the 1.0-litre equipped Baleno were spotted in various parts of the country recently.
Maruti says its theme for the Auto Expo 2016 pavillion will be “Transformation” where aims to transform the Indian automotive experience of the customers from its products, design and technology as well as customer relationships.