Maruti Confirms New Swift DZire's February Launch

Published: Monday, January 16, 2012, 16:03 [IST]

The one car that we missed sorely at Maruti Suzuki's stall at the recently concluded Delhi Auto Expo was the new Swift DZire sedan. When we contacted a senior executive at Maruti Suzuki we were told the new DZire being an all new car needed a special event to be launched and it was not brought to Delhi due to the huge number of launches involved.

The current Swift DZire was set for a replacement soon after the launch of the new Swift in August 2011. However, the three strike at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant and the existing demand for the current model ensured a delay in the launch of the new DZire.

The new Swift DZire will be built on a brand new platform on which the new Swift is also built. The DZire will be slightly shorter than the current version. In fact it will measure 3.99 metres in length and it is being called as the swift399 indicating its length in centimetres. This will mean it will be considered as a compact sedan and hence excise duty will be just 10 per cent of its price.

The current Swift DZire is one of the most successful sedans from Maruti Suzuki. It has garnered more than 3.2 lakh sales since its launch. While some had considered it to be visually unappealing due to its rear design, its peppy performance and space enured this flaw did not curtail its sales.

The new Swift DZire was expected to be priced lower than the current model. But a Maruti Suzuki official has stated there is no likelihood of a lower priced DZire. He added the new DZire will have 150 new features when compared to the current model. Further the carmaker and its parts suppliers had invested more than Rs.230 crores in the new model. So despite the new Swift DZire attracting lower taxes, the benefits will not be passed onto customers.

Article Published On: Monday, January 16, 2012, 16:03 [IST]

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