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Suzuki A-Star to sell alongside Suzuki Alto in India

Monday, August 11, 2008, 15:29

The Suzuki A-Star concept was revealed during the Auto Expo 2008 in New Delhi in January. The actual production version of the A-Star will make its appearance at the 2008 Paris motor Show.

In India, the A-Star is expected to be launched around Diwali – that is an October-November launch.

Suzuki has released some photos of the of the A-Star.

Suzuki A-Star India photo
Photo: New Suzuki A-Star in India, Alto abroad.

Some of you are confused about the A-Star and Alto nomenclatures. Let’s try to clear it here.

For one, there is the A-Star concept which we saw in January 2008. That is just a concept car, and the production version will be called Alto in international markets. The A-Star, thus, is the new Alto abroad.

Suzuki A-Star concept photo
Suzuki A-Star concept which debuted at New Delhi Auto Expo 2008

However in India, the Alto is Suzuki’s best selling car. So, Suzuki will continue to sell the current Alto in India. The new Alto – the A-Star – will sell in India under the name A-Star.

So we in India will have two Altos on the road at the same time! The old Alto, and the A-Star.

As you can see, the dramatic looks of the A-Star concept have vanished. That was only to be expected anyway. It is still a good looker, though more conventional. From the angle in the photo here, it looks a bit like the Chevrolet Spark to me – guess that is just the angle from which the photo was taken.

But the A-Star has a large mouth alright like the new Fiesta or the Hyundai i10. Guess that is in vogue right now.

The A-Star will be priced a bit above the current Alto – we have heard everything from a low Rs 3 lakh to almost Rs 4 lakhs. Suzuki has not usually disappointed with its pricing in India, so it would be reasonable.

AutoCar India reported that the A-Star will come with Suzuki’s K-Series 1.0 litre engine as well as a 1.2 litre motor.

What is the big deal about the A-Star though? Apart from the fact that it is a thoroughly modern car, it is the first time that Suzuki would be manufacturing a car specifically for India, and then exporting it from here. A lot of A-Stars will make their way to Europe under the Alto nomenclature – while Nissan would pick up a few to sell with a Nissan badget as a Nissan YC-5.


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27 Responses to “Suzuki A-Star to sell alongside Suzuki Alto in India”

  1. Arun said on Monday, August 18, 2008, 13:47

    Suzuki’s A-Star looks great. I hope, its price will not be higher than present Alto in India. I would like to purchase it.

  2. Justin Peters said on Friday, August 22, 2008, 18:03

    The new A Star looks Awesome and very practical especially

    where space is a constraint !

  3. sharon moses said on Thursday, September 4, 2008, 3:44

    looks international. would definietly go for it. hope the price is sooothing to the pocket.(read not very different from the alto)

  4. Shiny said on Tuesday, September 9, 2008, 6:35

    Alto A* looks good. but only few photos are displayed. We will go for it..

  5. vikram said on Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 9:41

    diz 1 is vry attractive car ..vry beautiful …small segment car launched in india …nd if d price of diz car is nt more den d alto ,definately diz is d top selling model car in india .

  6. Uday said on Monday, September 15, 2008, 12:45

    Does A-star launch in India will have an automatic version??

  7. Rajkumar said on Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 13:08

    You have shown 2 model of alto’s, which model is being launched in inida during diwali?
    kindly reply

  8. benji said on Thursday, September 25, 2008, 19:19

    The Alto Version Is seriously NOT HAPPENING…

    How Much would the euro version cost. ??

  9. srinivas said on Sunday, September 28, 2008, 9:50

    the concept car model of “a star” which was shown in expo is really fantastic. actually after seeing the “a star”’s looks in expo i really blown away and planned to purchase it. but now seeing the modified version of “a star” i am compleetly dissappointed. i don’t know shy maruti people changed that superb design to inferior design . TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED. THE MODEL WHICH WAS EXHIBITED IN EXPO IS GOOD. THE MODIFIED ASTAR IS REALLY LOOKING ORDINARY , VERY DISAPPOINTING

  10. Joe said on Sunday, September 28, 2008, 20:17

    I would have bought the concept car .. really strong The Alto derived from the A-Star is aninmous and really awful. What a pity.

  11. Vibhav Tiwari said on Monday, September 29, 2008, 3:48

    Hi this is very beautifull car ,, and more spacious car in segment. I am waiting to buy it…….

  12. sandeep said on Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 8:31

    The a-star is looking like a toy n i feel its not up to the mark.The concept car and the production model neednot be so different.Its like “hell n heaven’s” differance.This is not my pic of cars anywazzz now.

  13. Dr.D.Dhachinamoorthi said on Thursday, October 2, 2008, 12:07

    Interiar design and specification of A star to be compared with old alto model

  14. Anuj said on Friday, October 3, 2008, 10:03

    hi u r verrrrrrrrry sexy new alto car bahut chalegi mai bhi kharidunga.

  15. chandrakanta samal said on Sunday, October 5, 2008, 5:58

    when company planning to launch this car,l need fast reply,its urgent to know

  16. Nishant Kashyap said on Tuesday, October 7, 2008, 19:12

    Concept Car : Original Car :: Manly : Girlish

  17. Riyadh said on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 11:04

    ya great ,impressed ….its seems for me ,i need to check the sum required for the same…
    hope it would suit to me .

  18. PREM said on Thursday, October 16, 2008, 2:03

    When will be launch?
    what is rate ?
    Should I purchase Alto or new one ?

  19. Girish said on Monday, October 27, 2008, 12:00

    When are the bookings starting? Maruthi Website do not showcase any of these, except for the expected launch date. I would definitely like to have the first one to roll out in hand. Good decision by Suzuki Mgt with right combination of the environmental factors like market slump presently in India. People would like to have this as a best & cheaper alternative, only if the cost is not too high compared to ex-Alto. Traffic woes are intolerable in Bangalore, with undisciplined rains. Definitely looking fwd to have one now.

  20. haiqbal singh said on Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 6:34

    A STAR IS LOOKING VERY BEAUTIFUL BUT THIS CAR IS NOT LOOKING LIKE CONCEPT CAR WHICH WE LOOK IN DELHI EXPO 2008

  21. Deepak Kumar said on Friday, October 31, 2008, 16:14

    Maruthi “A star” which was shown in the expo is very fantastic model.

    After seeing the present “A star”’ model i was felt very disappointed. The great Maruthi copied i10 model. What is the necessacity to copy the i10 model?

  22. Maruti Suzuki A-Star photo and price for Lxi, Zxi and Vxi variants | DWS Auto India said on Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 13:52

    [...] – the car looked nothing like the concept Suzuki A-star. We have carried a pile of stories on the Maruti Suzuki A-Star in the last one [...]

  23. janie said on Saturday, November 22, 2008, 6:05

    i’m so disappointed….the concept car looked so amazing..i was so eagerly waiting for A star to launch..
    but now i don’t want to buy the car..it looks nothing like the concept car…y hav the maruthi people done this…

  24. Tarun Patil said on Sunday, November 30, 2008, 18:11

    A star looks good but its not matching the concept car in any angle and maruthi copied this design from other car.im disappointed lot .

  25. Tarun Patil said on Sunday, November 30, 2008, 18:15

    A star looks good but its not matching the concept car in any angle and maruthi copied this design from other car.im disappointed lot .even i would like to know about price for topend model kindly reply me

  26. sonam tobgay said on Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 10:48

    “A-star” ,fashion car for the fashion world. it looks great but hope its not too costly as compared to present alto.

  27. krishnakumar said on Thursday, December 18, 2008, 14:37

    suzuki have maded a grand model… called A-STAR nd i wanna purchase it …. nd i want the price should be low……

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