All-new Maruti Celerio to get premium features to take on Hyundai Santro

Maruti Suzuki is having restless nights ever since the launch of the new Hyundai Santro. The company’s direct competition in that segment are the Celerio and the WagonR, both of which are running quite old and are touted to be replaced by newer models.

The Tata Tiago posed the first serious threat to the Celerio after the company managed to contain the Renault Kwid’s challenge but the newly launched Hyundai Santro has blown the competition away in terms of features. That said, the Celerio is still the best selling car of its segment with 9208 units sold in September alone. But to maintain the lead, a next generation of the Celerio is on cards for the company.

The current generation Celerio has prices starting from Rs. 4.21 lakh for the base variant and going up to to Rs. 5.40 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). It also has a rugged cousin called Celerio X which the company markets as an urban off road crossover. Maruti Suzuki is working on a next generation model of the car with many improvements so as to stack against the competition. The upcoming Celerio could feature a sporty exterior and feature laden, upmarket interiors.

As in the new Santro and the rest of the competition, The next-gen Celerio could have a slew of connectivity options including touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and enhanced safety features. Also expect the space on the inside to grow a bit but not by a huge margin. The Celerio is already a frugal car with its 1.0-litre K10B DOHC petrol engine returning an ARAI certified mileage of 23.1 kmpl. The engine generates 67 Bhp of power and 90 Nm of torque at 3,500 rpm. There’s also a CNG option with less power on board but a high fuel efficiency of 31.79 kmpl.  The car comes with a five-speed manual gearbox and an optional five-speed AMT transmission too.

While it is highly unlikely for  Maruti to change the engine configurations, there could be an electric version of the Celerio on cards especially since the government is encouraging the growth of electric vehicles. The electric drivetrain system could be borrowed from the WagonR electric which is already under tests in India.

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