Maruti Eeco gets ABS, airbag & other safety features: Omni OUT!

The Maruti Eeco has just received a range of safety features in order to comply with BNVSAP regulations, which come into effect from the 1st of April 2019. Under the new safety regime, all cars sold in India must have the following safety features as standard across variants: ABS, driver airbag, seat belt reminder system, speed alert and reverse parking sensors. All these features have now been added to the updated Maruti Eeco, which has already reached dealer stockyards. Official sales of the updated Maruti Eeco will begin soon.

Pricing is yet to be released. Expect a price bump up of around Rs. 10,000-20,000 for the additional safety features.  Prices of the pre-update Eeco start from Rs. 3.61 lakhs. The passenger van is available in 5 seat and 8 seat  variants. Popular both among private car buyers and cab operators, the passenger van is available with petrol and  petrol CNG dual fuel options. It’s rear wheel driven, and uses independent front suspension and leaf spring rear suspension.

As for engine specifications, the van is powered by a 1.2 liter-4 cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol unit that  churns out 73 Bhp of peak power and 101 Nm of peak torque. The engine is mounted under the front seats, and is paired  with a 5 speed manual gearbox. Known for its excellent reliability, low maintenance cost and good fuel efficiency,  the Eeco is one of India’s biggest selling cars, with average monthly sales of around 6,000 units. Sales are likely  to go up in the coming months as the Maruti Omni will no longer be built after April 1st.

Yes, Maruti Suzuki decided to discontinue one of India’s veteran cars – the Omni passenger van – a few months ago.  This move came in the face of the new Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP), a government mandated safety regulation that aims to add more safety to cars sold in India. The Maruti Omni’s age old platform was deemed unfit for the new safety features, which is the main reason why Maruti decided to pull the plug on one of India’s automotive legends.

The Eeco will take the Omni’s place, and is likely to be available in a cargo version as well. We also expect Maruti  to add a LPG-Petrol dual fuel option to the Eeco as many parts of India continue to have a lack of CNG dispensing facility although LPG refilling stations are present in such areas. Adding an LPG variant to the Eeco will make the passenger van a lot more appealing in more parts of the country. The upcoming Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) emission norms is said to be another factor that could hasten the arrival of the LPG variant of the Eeco.