India’s best-selling car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, is on the verge of expanding its already vast portfolio in India. The incoming models will cater to a diverse range of audiences across multiple car segments and genres. The company has now trademarked two new names that could go on these cars.
If we take a quick glance at upcoming Maruti Suzuki cars, we can count at least 8 of them. Firstly, we have 4th generation Swift and Dzire incoming. We also have an upcoming eVX electric compact SUV, which will be the company’s maiden BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle).
These are the upcoming Maruti Suzuki vehicles already spotted testing on multiple occasions. Then there are five more upcoming Maruti Suzuki vehicles that are either rumoured or speculated. Among these, a 7-seater version of Grand Vitara SUV and a mini SUV to rival Tata Punch and Hyundai Exter might be in the closer vicinity.
Other vehicles include an electric MPV based on eVX platform, Suzuki Spacia-based MPV and a small electric hatchback based on eWX concept. The recently trademarked names from Maruti Suzuki are Escudo and Torqnado. Any of the above-mentioned vehicles incoming from Maruti Suzuki stables could bear these names.
Both of these trademarks have been filed by Suzuki Motor Corporation earlier this year. The status of both these trademarks read Accepted and Advertised. These trademarks could just be routine exercises of securing a company’s intellectual properties in India and not make it to production.
That said, the Escudo has a higher chance of making it to production. Especially on the 7-seater version of Grand Vitara. We say this because Escudo is the name of Grand Vitara SUV sold in Japan. This JDM Grand Vitara is different from India-spec Grand Vitara currently on sale.
We’re talking about the global Grand Vitara whose 3rd generation model was sold in India between 2009 and 2015 as Grand Vitara. Now, it is in its 4th generation model and this vehicle is called Escudo in Japan. Maruti Suzuki might use Escudo name with upcoming 7-seater Grand Vitara.
However, Torqnado name is all new and doesn’t ring any bells within the 4W category in any of the markets Suzuki currently operates. That said, Suzuki Motor Corporation does not just manufacture cars in India. The company also makes motorcycles and scooters. The trademarks for Suzuki 2W vehicles are held by Suzuki Motor Corporation too.
So, Torqnado name may be a 2W vehicle considering the close similarities with the Suzuki Tornado scooter bike sold in global markets. Despite the speculations, the choice of nameplates is solely at Maruti Suzuki’s discretion.