Maruti cranks up best-seller Alto

Maruti Suzuki is gearing up to launch an expensive variant of its largest-selling car, Alto, next month.

The new avatar will sport a 1000cc, K-series engine, which is expected to be more powerful and fuel efficient. The existing Alto comes with a 800cc engine.

The 1 litre version is expected to be come at a “significant” price premium to the existing car. At present, the Alto’s certified mileage is 19.7 kmpl, but the new car is expected to give over 20 kmpl.
The Tata Nano is the most fuel-efficient car in India at present, with a mileage of 23.6 kmpl. But the Nano is also much lighter than the Alto. How much better fuel efficiency is offered in the new Alto remains to be seen.

In Mumbai, the Alto Standard comes for about Rs 2.43 lakh whereas the top end variant costs about Rs 2.75 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). In all probability, the new Alto’s top variant would cross the Rs 3-lakh mark.

When contacted, a Maruti Suzuki spokesperson declined to comment for this story.

Industry watchers are keen to see how the sales of the new Alto and the existing Alto - which is not being phased out as of now — will together impact sales of the A-Star. The Maruti A-Star comes between Rs 3.7-3.96 (ex-showroom Mumbai) and was initially seen as eating into Alto’s market share.

Some industry veterans expect brand Alto sales to jump by about 50% after the new variant is introduced. In May this year, Maruti sold 25,000 Alto cars and sales have averaged 20,000 units for several years now.

Industry sources say that Maruti is also simultaneously developing a stripped down Alto, trying to bring it closer to the price levels of the M800. The company is seeking to retain its A1 market share, which has suffered after the M800 was withdrawn from 13 top cities.

The company has already been working with vendors on the ‘one gram, one component’ principle -the weight of each component used in making a car is being reduced by a gram. This, coupled with other cost saving techniques, could well bring down the price of this ‘cost down’ Alto rather close to the base version of the M800 or even within striking distance of the Nano.