Maruti Suzuki Ciaz C-Segment sedan launch in August?

The latest rumour in motown about the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz C-Segment suggests that the car will arrive in August, and not July as speculated earlier. The Ciaz will replace the SX4 sedan in India, and production of the latter has already been halted in anticipation of the new car. Trial production of the Ciaz has already begun at Maruti Suzuki’s factory in Manesar. Although subjective, the low slung Ciaz is a much better looker than the tallish SX4, whose origins lay in a crossover.

The Ciaz shares its underpinnings with the Ertiga. Interiors, features and mechanicals are expected to be borrowed from the Ertiga, with a dose of finesse added to doll up the Ciaz into being a serious contender for C-Segment sedan glory, something that has eluded Maruti Suzuki in the past. Class leading interior quality with a rash of new features are likely to make the cut into the Ciaz.

The car is expected feature a 1.4 liter K-Series petrol (94 Bhp-130 Nm) engine and a 1.3 liter Fiat Multijet turbo diesel (90 Bhp-200 Nm) engine. Both engines will get five speed manual transmissions as standard fare. Rumours of an automated manual transmission for the Ciaz Petrol have been doing the rounds for a while now.

However, some others suggest that a 4 speed automatic gearbox will be offered with the petrol variant of the Ciaz. Notably, the Ertiga MPV sold in Indonesia is available with a 4 speed automatic gearbox-1.4 liter K-Series petrol engine, a combination likely to be carried over to the Ciaz if the AMT option doesn’t materialize.

The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz is known as the Suzuki Alivio in the Chinese car market and the car sold in China (length of 4,545 mm) is expected to be longer than the Indian version, given the Chinese’s preference for longer wheelbase sedans. In India, expect the Ciaz to measure in the ballpark of other C-Segment sedan offerings such as the Volkswagen Vento and the Honda City.

In China, the Alivio (Ciaz in India) in concept guise was showcased with a 1.6 liter petrol engine good for 118 Bhp. The petrol motor was mated to a 6 speed automatic gearbox driving the front wheels of the car. It remains unclear if Maruti Suzuki will bring in the larger petrol engine with the Ciaz, or whether the car maker would stick to the 1.4 liter K-Series motor used on the Ertiga.

Via AutoJunction