Maruti Suzuki's new Swift is set to hit the
road next month as the company braces up for stiffer competition after Toyota launched
its Liva small car and Honda gears up
to roll out its Brio hatchback.
The new Swift, which comes to India nearly one
year after its international debut, will cost around or over Rs 10,000 more
than the model's existing price of Rs 4.09 lakh (Delhi, ex-showroom petrol variant).
The model has been a
blockbuster for the company since its launch in 2005 and has been the mainstay
in the premium category of the compact car segment, which accounts for nearly
60% of car sales in India.
Shashank Srivastav,
chief GM (sales & marketing) at Maruti Suzuki, said competition was getting
stiffer in the segment and Maruti wanted to hold on to its over 50% share.
"This is the biggest segment of the market and everyone wants a larger share
here-."While Maruti has a dominance in the compact segment with its fleet
of cars (including Swift, Ritz, Alto, WagonR), others are catching up fast.
Volkswagen Polo, Ford Figo, Hyundai i10 and
i20, GM's Beat and now Liva have been fighting hard to get big numbers here.
The new Swift will
sport some changes both in the interior as well as on the exterior and Maruti
is trying to give a somewhat "different feel" to the model,
considering that the overall impression of the car would be maintained.
The effort will be
to make the car appear more sporty. Srivastav said dealers have started
accepting bookings for the new model and customers will have a choice to go for
the upgraded model that will make its debut around August 17. The new model
will be slightly longer and wider than the existing model and will have a 40 mm
longer wheelbase, which will add a little more to the legroom. While the engine
capacities of the existing Swift have been retained (1200cc petrol and 1300cc
diesel), the company has made changes to technology on the petrol engine which
will give the car more power and also make it more fuel efficient.
