Maruti Suzuki Ritz launch approaches

Maruti Suzuki will launch its new hatchback the Maruti Suzuki Ritz, in the B+ segment, on May 15, 2009.

The company has said the Maruti Ritz, which will be available in petrol and diesel variants, will be India’s first BS-IV compliant car.

Update: Maruti Suzuki launches Ritz with petrol and diesel variants

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• Diesel Ritz and SX4 in 2010

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz, known as Splash in the global markets, will be positioned between the Maruti Suzuki A-Star and the Maruti Suzuki Swift.

“Ritz is the eighth new model within 48 months following the launch of Swift, Zen Estilo, SX4, Swift Diesel, Grand Vitara, Swift Dzire and A-star,” the company said.

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz will be powered by two different engine options, its new K12M 1.2 litre, four-cylinder, 85PS petrol engine ,and a 1.3 litre, 16-valve, 75PS diesel engine, the company said.

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz, that will be positioned as a family car, is expected be priced in the range of Rs 4-5 lakhs.

The company is confident that the Maruti Suzuki Ritz will sell about 9000 units a month, keeping in mind the success of the Maruti Suzuki Swift, its fastest model, which crossed sales of 3 lakh units in a period of three years and eight months.

“I cannot tell the exact number. But we hope to do as many units as Swift,” the Maruti Suzuki Managing Director, Mr Shinzo Nakanishi, said.

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz is expected be priced in the range of Rs 4-5 lakhs. Maruti Suzuki has managed to restrict cost by localising most of the engine components.

Suzuki Ritz Launch

The launch date is15 May, 2009. Interest in the Ritz launch is already peaking, and Maruti Suzuki has been running teasers on TV and on the Web. The Maruti Suzuki Ritz will be available in both petrol and diesel variants, but not in the beginning. In the beginning, there will be three variants launched, but all will be diesel. Maruti and Honda new car launches are always highly anticipated, and the upcoming Ritz launch is not going to be any different.

Given Maruti Suzuki’s habit of launching petrol versions first as in the case of the Swift, it is expected that the petrol versions of the Suzuki Ritz will be launched first, followed by a subsequent launch of the diesel version.

Design of the Ritz

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz is based on the Suzuki Swift platform. With a length of less than 4 metres, the car’s dimensions are bigger than that of the Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R, adding to the interior room.

The front of the car takes its style cues from the Maruti Suzuki Swift. The sides look a bit like the A-Star. Not my favourite look, but customers seem to have no problem at all with the design of the A-Star, so I am in a minority there. The Maruti Suzuki Ritz will have a big grille and large headlights, like the Maruti Suzuki Swift and the SX4, and an inward kink in the rear.

The tapering rear window of the Maruti Suzuki Ritz will make it look similar to the A-star.

The interiors of the Maruti Suzuki Ritz are spacious and user-friendly. The seats are high-set, and the tall-ish driver’s seat improves visibility and adds to the feeling of space inside. The tapering rear window of the Ritz, though, does not give it the air of a spacious cabin as in the case of the Swift and A-Star. I don’t think car buyers’ care, though, about that.

The raised roofline and wider tracks of the car enable it to accommodate up to 5 people with lots of luggage space as well. The central console will house the gear-shift as in the case of the Hyundai i10.

Reports say that there is a 24mm increase in front headroom and a 31mm increase in rear headroom, in the Maruti Suzuki Ritz.

Suzuki Ritz: Engine and specs

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz will be powered by two different engine options, its new K12M 1.2 litre, four-cylinder, 85PS petrol engine, and a 1.3 litre, 16-valve,  75PS diesel engine, the company said.

The new K12M engine, the second in the Kseries, is said to be as fuel efficient as the K10B engine which powers the Maruti Suzuki A-star.

The fuel efficiency of the new K12M engine will be ensured by the use of a Rocker-less DOHC cam shaft, Plastic Intake Manifold and Offset Crank shaft with low tension rings.

The Suzuki Ritz will come with a 5-speed manual gearbox, and have CO2 emissions less than 140 g/km.

This 1197cc K12M engine delivers 84 bhp@6000 rpm, with a maximum torque of 11.4 kgm@4500 rpm.

The K12M engine will be manufactured keeping Indian roads in mind. Improved engine stiffness and silent timing chain improve nise-vibration-harshness characteristics and make the K12M engine suitable for the Indian roads.

The K12M engine, used in the Maruti Suzuki Ritz,  comes with a Smart Distributor Less Ignition (SDLI) system with dedicated plug top coils, high-pressure fuel system, and advanced injectors.

Other features include a higher grade engine oil, increased spark plug life, silent timing chain, and valve clearance adjustment.

The higher grade engine oil will better first changeover time from 1,000 Km to 10,000 Km, and the spark plug changeover time from 20,000 Km to 40,000 Km.

The silent timing chain of the Maruti Suzuki K12M engine is said to have a longer life when compared to belt design.

Safety features

The Suzuki Ritz comes with standard safety features like ABS, airbags, crumple zones, and brake assist, but it will not sport the more sophisticated safety features of the Suzuki Splash abroad. Some variants of the Ritz, will have features like EBD, collapsible steering wheel column, and seat belt pre-tensioners.

Remember that at this point, this is all guesswork. We would know for sure only on the day of the launch.

The Suzuki Ritz will be rolled out of Maruti’s Manesar plant, near Gurgaon.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki has said that it expects its domestic sales to grow at a faster pace than the industry average. It also forsees an increase in A-star exports to over one lakh units, in 2009-2010.

The company has said that it expects to export about 10,000 units to non-European countries, 60,000 to Europe, and 30,000 units to Nissan.