Maruti Ciaz BEATS Honda City & Hyundai Verna

The Maruti Ciaz has regained the crown of India’s best-selling C-Segment sedan by outselling the Hyundai Verna and the Honda City, during November 2017. Maruti dispatched 4,009 units of the Ciaz to dealership stockyards in November, while Hyundai managed 3,751 units. Honda dispatched 3,315 units of the City sedan, its lowest figure in the last six months.

Hyundai is said to have dispatched fewer Vernas to its dealers in India as around 2,000 Verna sedans were exported. This explains the drop in Verna dispatches even though the car enjoys a large number of bookings. In the last 2 months prior to November, the Verna outsold both the City and Ciaz by a big margin. The Verna is the most recent launch in this segment while the Ciaz and City has been around for more than 2 years.

The Ciaz sold in India features a 1.4 liter petrol engine and a 1.3 liter Fiat Multijet turbo diesel engine. Both engines get 5 speed manual transmissions as standard. The petrol engine also gets a 4 speed automatic gearbox option. Maruti offers a mild-hybrid system with the diesel engined Ciaz. This hybrid system cuts tail-pipe emissions and fuel consumption by assisting the diesel engine during acceleration.

Next year, Maruti is expected to launch a facelifted Ciaz. The facelifted car has been testing with camouflage on Indian roads, and the launch seems just around the corner. Apart from a minor facelift in design, the facelifted car could also get new petrol and diesel engines. A new 1.5 liter petrol engine (M15A) with 108 Bhp and an in-house developed 1.4 liter turbocharged diesel engine are likely to be offered on the facelifted Ciaz. Both these engines will make more power and torque than the current line-up, and this should make the Ciaz more attractive to a lot of buyers who otherwise would opt for the Hyundai Verna and Honda City.