Auto giant Maruti Suzuki unveiled its Celerio hatchback for the Indian market on February 6, 2014. The base variant of the latest model has been priced at Rs. 3.90 lakh in the country.
The new hatchback from Maruti Suzuki has an automated gearshift technology which combines the high mileage of manual cars, but offers convenience of automatic cars. The company is hoping that the latest launch will help it to create a new market segment. Mayank Pareek, the chief operating officer, marketing and sales at the auto giant said, “We have been able to cut the price gap of manual and automatic gears substantially in Celerio. The customers can choose to have clutch-free cars without compromising on fuel efficiency”.
The Celerio’s automatic manual transmission version comes with a starting price tag of Rs. 4.29 lakh (ex-showroom price Delhi). It has been noticed across the auto industry that the automatic versions of vehicles are at least Rs. 1 lakh more expensive than the manual equivalents. The new Celerio has been introduced as a replacement for the A-Star and the Zen Estilo hatchbacks in the country.
The vehicle will be competing against the Hyundai’s i10 and comes in the price band of Rs. 4 to 4.78 lakh, Moreover, it will also be competing with Tata Indica and Chevrolet Beat hatchback. Pareek went on to say that the automatic EZ Drive technology is set to deliver same fuel-efficiency of 23.1 kmpl, just like the manual-geared vehicle.
Photo Credits: Zig Wheels
