Maruti Suzuki A-Star to be rebadged and sold by Volkswagen

We have been hearing about the tie-up between Suzuki and Volkswagen for a year now – and now we have something concrete. According to reports, the company will now supply the A-Star model to Volkswagen, which has taken up the task of tweaking the car and later sell it under a new brand in Asian markets including India.

Volkswagen chose the A-Star seeing Nissan’s success with the the model in European markets, where it sells it as Nissan Pixo.

Economic Times quoted an industry official saying there could be some changes in the basic design of the Volkswagen’s A-Star version though the overall technical specifications won’t be altered. Related: Maruti A-Star launched

Maruti A-Star, which is sold across many markets globally, is manufactured at the Manesar plant in Haryana, India. The A-Star is designed to meet all the safety and emission regulations of global markets such as Europe. Manufactured in over 200 variants and sold in around 150 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Africa, the bulk of A-Star units are produced for export. Related: VW to source Suzuki engines

Maruti A-Star, a premium A2 segment hatchback car, was introduced in the Indian market on November 18, 2008. Offered in four variants Lxi, Vxi, Vxi automatic and Zxi, the A-Star is available from Rs. 3.5 lakh onwards. The A-Star automatic version was launched in August 2010.

Powered by a 1-litre, three-cylinder K10B series engine that churns out 67 PS at 6,000 rpm and 90 Nm of torque at 3,500 rpm, the Maruti A-Star can return a mileage of 19.5 kmpl (as per ARAI) and can achieve a top speed of 155 kmph. On an average, Maruti sells 3,000 A-Star cars every month.

It is not clear if there will be more such announcements related to other cars from the Maruti Suzuki line-up in India in the future. Currently, Maruti Suzuki is the largest car manufacturer in India. The recently launched Alto K10 is the most popular car from the company.