Maruti Suzuki Estilo Vogue special edition launched

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) is celebrating the sale of 200,000 Estilo small cars in the domestic market by launching a special edition model dubbed the ‘Estilo Vogue’.

The limited edition model gets the ‘Vogue’ branding on seat covers, floor mats and will be a CNG variant. Maruti Suzuki Estilo is not a major volume driver for MSIL but it still manages to outsell the Chevrolet Beat, Nissan Micra, Maruti’s own A-Star and Volkswagen Punto. In the last financial year, Estilo sales grew by 25.4%.

Let’s trace the evolution of the Estilo over the last 5 years.

Zen Estilo launch (2006)

Maruti had launched the new avatar of the Maruti Zen as Zen Estilo on 5th December 2006. At that time, the Zen Estilo was priced at Rs. 3.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the base variant while the top end variant was priced a little over Rs. 4 lakh.

The Zen Estilo was more spacious than the Maruti Zen, and was powered by a 1061 cc engine that belted out 64 bhp of power and gave a mileage of 14-16 km/litre. It went on to sell for two years till Maruti Suzuki gave it a mid-life makeover in 2009.

Next-Gen Estilo (2009)

Later in August 2009, Maruti launched the next-generation Estilo dropping the ‘Zen’ moniker and priced ranging from Rs. 3.12 lakh to Rs. 3.66 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Also read: Maruti Suzuki WagonR Duo LPG launched at Rs 3.97 lakh

The bolder new Estilo is powered by a 998 cc, K-series, BSIV compliant engine producing 68 PS of maximum power and 90 Nm of maximum torque and returns a mileage of 18.2 km/litre (as ARAI results). The same engine also powers the Wagon R. The engine is mated to a 5-speed transmission.

The new Estilo has been improved for safety. The model has frontal impact absorbing area by increasing the distance between steering wheel and bumper. The top-end Vxi variant gets front and rear fog lamps, rear wiper and washer as standard while ABS and driver side Airbag is available as option.

However the ‘Vogue’ isn’t the first limited edition model of the Estilo and another special edition had been launched a few months back in March (2011).

Zen Estilo Edge Special Edition (2011)

In March 2011, Maruti Suzuki had launched another special edition variant of the Zen Estilo hatchback called the Zen Estilo Edge Special Edition at a price of Rs. 3.60 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The special edition is available in only one variant, Zen Estilo Lxi Edge.

Maruti Suzuki Estilo has been selling consistently at around 3,500 units every month, which is low by Maruti Suzuki standards. This is partly because the Estilo lacks a USP (unique selling proposition) and is only marginally cheaper than the Wagon-R which is a far more established brand among small car buyers and has been in the market for 10 years.

The ‘Estilo Vogue’ might slightly improve sales and revive the Estilo brand among buyers provided Maruti Suzuki doesn’t hike the price of the special edition drastically for the special features.