Maruti Suzuki India Limited is getting ready to phase out the current Alto which has been in production for many years now. Instead, it will bring in a new and much improved Alto in its place. This new generation Maruti Alto will follow a micro crossover body style, inspired by the Future-S concept (shown in the gallery at the bottom of this post) which was showcased by Maruti Suzuki at the Auto Expo in 2018.
After the new Maruti Alto was spied on test at Kufri near Shimla last month, it has now been spied again, wearing a different camouflage. The variant spied in Kufri, was wearing black and white camouflage. While the new one spied recently, is wearing all black camouflage.
Under heavy camouflage, the new Alto is slated to bear no resemblance to its current counterpart but bear a hint of similarity to the Ignis. The new generation Maruti Suzuki Alto will be based on Heartect platform. This is the same platform which is used by all new Maruti cars like Ignis, Swift, Dzire, Baleno, WagonR. New Alto will have higher ground clearance, a boxy shape and more spacious interiors. It will get larger wheels, projector headlamps with LED DRLs, LED tail lamps and rear parking sensors.
On the inside of new Alto, standard features will include a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. It will sport a three spoke steering wheel, gear lever could be mounted on dashboard for better leg room and an LCD screen on instrument panel. ABS, EBD and dual air bags will all be offered as standard while boot space will be increased for accommodation of extra luggage offering better value for money as compared to competition.
2019 Maruti Suzuki Alto will be lighter than its current generation model. It will meet Bharat NCAP safety norms. One of the reason to launch new gen Alto, is that the current Alto does not meet safety norms. And when the rule kicks in, Maruti will have to discontinue current Alto. This will result in huge sales loss, as Alto is the best selling car in India currently, registering sales of about 25k units a month.
Engine options on board the new Alto will continue to be in two trims – 800 cc and 1 liter. Both are also on offer with current Alto. But with new Alto, the engines will be updated to meet BS6 emission norms. They will also be more refined, more powerful and more fuel efficient. Expect pricing of new Alto to start in the Rs 3 lakhs range. It will rival rival the likes of Renault Kwid.
