New Maruti 800 spied testing

Maruti Suzuki is planning to launch a face-lifted M800 (Maruti 800). The face-lifted model was spied testing recently.

The spy photo of the test car, published by AutocarIndia, suggests that the new M800 will offer more headroom than the present model as the car’s height has increased a bit. The shoulder line of the new car is slightly raised reducing the rear window’s glass area. The C pillar too is chunky quite like the Alto.

The face-lifted model will get a new front grille with a pair of horizontal chrome slats. The headlamps will have a tear-drop shape as can be seen in the slots cut out for the headlamps in the test mule, unlike the outgoing model’s rectangular headlamps and turn indicators. The bonnet of the new M800 seems a little longer than the present M800.

The inside of the new M800 will likely come with dual-tone interiors, a refreshed dashboard and better plastics.

The face-lifted M800 will likely be powered by the Maruti Suzuki Alto’s 796 cc, FC engine ( BS IV compliant) that makes 46 bhp of maximum power and 62 Nm of maximum torque. The engine is known for its frugal nature and returns 19.73 kmpl (as per Maruti). In real world conditions it’s known to give around 17-18 kmpl.

Maruti seems to be targeting Tata Nano buyers in the sub-Rs. 2 lakh category with its new M800. The new M800, in that case would need to be priced at least Rs. 40,000 lesser than the outgoing M800, which seems to be a challenging task.

It would be interesting to see how Maruti will cut cost when the upgrades on the face-lifted model should in fact increase production cost.

Price comparison: Maruti 800 (existing) vs Tata Nano

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(Photo Courtesy: AutocarIndia)