India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is considering an all-new premium hatchback for the Indian car market, which is expected to make its debut by the end of 2015. Codenamed as ‘YRA’, the new hatchback will sit above the Swift hatchback and it is reportedly to be produced in India and Hungary, indicating that it would be a global product like Celerio.
The Maruti YRA will be marketed as a ‘premium hatchback’ and will compete against the likes of Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai i20 and new generation Jazz. Moreover, Volkswagen is ready to launch the facelifted version of Polo with more local components and a new 1.5-litre diesel engine. For the first time the Honda Jazz will be launched in both petrol and diesel guise, while the new Hyundai i20 will debut by the festive season. The premium hatchback could be the model to counter the competition to come from Honda and Hyundai. Adding to it, Indian buyers are now moving towards the premium cars which come with safety and comfort features, and are high on performance.
We expect that the new YRA premium hatchback could be based on the Swift platform, as this platform is very flexible and is already used in couple of products.
Engine & Transmission:
Interestingly, Maruti Suzuki India is also working on a new 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. This engine is likely to be a direct injected unit and is claimed to be powerful as well as fuel efficient. Codenamed as K10C, this engine is said to develop a maximum power output of 90bhp which is better than most of the naturally aspirated 1.2-litre engine. This engine will power the new YRA hatchback and will be paired to an automated manual transmission gearbox. Moreover, this vehicle will also get a diesel engine which we expect would be Fiat’s sourced 1.3-litre Multi-jet engine that also does its duty to the Swift and Swift Dzire.
Expected Launch and Price:
Keeping the increasing competition in mind, it is expected that the Maruti Suzuki YRA hatchback will be priced around Rs. 6-8 lakh. The vehicle is likely to make its Indian debut by the end of 2015 or by early 2016.
