Maruti plans competitor for tata Nano

Tata has taken the lion’s share of the headlines with regards to the Indian car industry, but Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) is being equally aggressive in its bid to get more domestic consumers off bikes and into cars. Plans are afoot for a locally made compact car as well as ambitious eco-friendly proposals.

MSIL has plans to launch a compact car, much like the Tata Nano and entirely produced in India by 2011. However, despite ambitions for an Indian-designed platform, the car will, for the time being, be built from one of three Japanese-sourced platforms already being used by the company’s Indian factories.

The platform will either be the Wagon R-Zen Estilo, the Alto-M800 or the Swift-Ritz. The Swift Dzire, a sedan version of the successful Swift hatchback, has already proved popular in India. Using an existing Japanese platform should prove to be a more cost-effective means of producing the car rather than designing a new platform from scratch in India, as the cost of creating this makes up a substantial part of any new car’s initial production costs.

It is also hoped that by 2011, an Indian-designed platform will be a reality.

MSIL started planning the compact last year and aims to employ 1,000 engineers by 2010, most of whom will work on the project. The company remains tight-lipped about the price and market positioning of the new car as the size, power and design were yet to be finalised.

As well as the compact car, which presumably will be a competitor to the Tata Nano, MSIL also has plans to develop new, more environmentally sound cars over the next three to five years. The MSIL engineers are working on hybrid-electric and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles and hope to incorporate these options into three or four Indian-made models, which have yet to be confirmed.

At present, MSIL offers LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) versions of the Maruti 800 and the WagonR, which are two popular hatchbacks, as well as the Omni van.

“Our initiatives for non-conventional clean fuel will take a step further in the coming times with factory-fitted CNG options on several models,” says Shinzo Nakanishi, the company’s managing director and CEO. He also announced this month that the new green technology is earmarked especially for the Indian market. MSIL’s Japanese research and development unit will be keeping Indian mileage and price parameters in mind while working on the project.

As well as plans for green technology in cars, Nakanishi says that, by 2010, all MSIL vehicles will meet European end-of-life standards. This directive was adopted by the European Commission in 2000 and provides requirements for the recycling of all suitable vehicle components and materials.

Maruti Ritz Engine Launched Today

Maruti has launched Maruti Ritz engine on April 14, 2009. Maruti Ritz might be launched by the second week of May this year, but its power plant is revealed to the world. Maruti Ritz will be equipped with new K12M engine which is the next generation of its KB series engine. The first KB series engine, the K10B is fitted into its ultra compact car Maruti A-Star.

Ritz will be equipped with 1.2L, 1197cc, K12M petrol engine that is able to produce upto 85PS power at 6000rpm and 113Nm torque at 4500rpm which makes it much powerful car in hatchback segment. Maruti's engineer team worked with Suzuki boffins in India as well as in Japan to make this new K12M engine as advanced as possible.

The main aim of this engineers team was to reduce losses and to make an innovative rocker-less DOHC camshaft, plastic intake manifold and offset crankshaft that has low tension rings help do just that. Maruti Ritz is going to be launched on 15th May in B+ segment in India. However, its price is not disclosed by Maruti but it is expected that Maruti Ritz price will fall in the range of Rs 4 to 5.5 lacs.


The new K12M engine is a light weight and this weight saving will surely make Maruti Ritz an extremely fuel efficient vehicle in its segment. The new K12M engine of Maruti Ritz is also BS-IV compliant - that will make Maruti Ritz the first ever passenger vehicle in India to adhere to the new pollution norm when it will be launched.

Updates:-

Maruti Ritz is going to launch in India tomorrow to read more about this you may visit the above link... Most Awaiting Maruti Ritz launch tomorrow