Maruti to Launch Refreshed Models Soon

India's largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki has plans to refresh all older car models in its portfolio to give them a fresh new look.

The process is expected to be completed in the next two years, according to top company officials. The fast selling Swift hatchback will be given a complete makeover and a newly developed petrol engine. Two new variants will be added to Alto, India's largest selling passenger car.

A completely stripped down version of Alto will be developed to compete with ultra cheap car Tata Nano. There would also be an upmarket variant equipped with the new KB series engine. This variant is likely to take on Hyundai Santro, GM's Spark and other compact cars.

One of the earliest model M800 and Omni are being refreshed to meet the Bharat Stage-IV emission norms which will come into effect from April 2010. The popular hatch Wagon R and Versa are also being given a makeover. The lone SUV Grand Vitara would also get a new engine in place of the existing one.

Speaking to the media, managing director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India, Mr. Shinzo Nakanishi said "Our quota of new cars has been exhausted with eight new launches in three years. We plan to refresh our models to offer better products to meet stricter emission norms."

Most of these cars are expected to get the new KB series engine, developed with an investment of Rs 1,200 Crore. In addition to these the company capex of Rs1,800 Crore in the fiscal will also fund the portfolio revamp.

Auto industry analysts say that Maruti will save on huge incremental costs of developing new cars by this procedure. An upgradation programme will require only Rs 50 crore -Rs 100 crore as against the Rs 700 crore to Rs 1,000 Crore required for development of a new car.

In order to strengthen its position as the leader of the market, Maruti is likely to bring in Kizashi sedan, speculate auto analysts. Developed by Suzuki Motors corporation, the Kizashi will be pitched against Honda Civic in the Indian car market. However, Maruti has not committed a date to launch the sedan.