CarToq Exclusive: Maruti Celerio based compact sedan rendered

Snapshot: Maruti Suzuki is putting together a compact sedan based on the recently launched Celerio hatchback. Test mules of a compact car tailormade, read a longer wheelbase version, for the Chinese domestic market have been spotted testing in China. The Indian version of the Celerio based compact sedan will be a sub-4 meter car seeking to benefit from the lower excise duty charged on compact cars measuring under 4 meters in length in this part of the world. CarToq shows you exclusive renders of the Celerio based compact sedan.

The Celerio based  compact sedan is likely to make its debut next year and is expected to sit below the Swift Dzire compact sedan in terms of price and positioning, as Maruti Suzuki’s least priced sedan offering. A petrol engine is likely to be standard given the resurgence of petrol cars what with the impending diesel price deregulation.

Expect either the 1 liter or 1.2 liter K-Series naturally aspirated petrol engines to make the cut into the Celerio compact sedan’s engine bay. A diesel engine, if and when plonked into the Celerio compact sedan’s engine bay, is likely to be a unit from the new crop of turbo diesel engines that Suzuki Japan is developing for use in Maruti Suzuki’s future line up of cars.

Click here to read about 7 upcoming compact sedans for the Indian car market

While 5 speed manual gearbox options will be standard, the automated manual transmission (AMT) that Maruti Suzuki introduced in India through the Celerio hatchback, is also likely to get the go ahead for the new compact sedan. Semi-automatic (AMT) gearboxes will also find application in most of Maruti Suzuki’s upcoming cars.

Once the Celerio compact sedan is launched, Maruti Suzuki will join Tata Motors as one of the only two automakers in India to have not one, but two sub-4 meter compact sedans in their respective line ups. The coming months should see more information about the Celerio based compact sedan surfacing.