Maruti will soon offer its entire lineup with dual airbags as a standard fitment
After the Omni was discontinued, EECO has registered an increase in sales. On average, Maruti EECO registers monthly sales of about 10k units. Maruti has now announced a price hike on the EECO range.
Maruti Eeco Price Hike Dec 2021
Maruti Suzuki has updated its sole van offering Eeco with dual front airbags as a standard fitment. This has resulted in a price hike of Rs 8,000 across variants of the non-cargo version of the people’s mover. The non-cargo lineup of Eeco is now priced between Rs 4.38 lakhs and Rs 5.68 lakhs (ex-showroom).
The introduction of passenger airbags in Eeco comes after the Central government made it mandatory for all cars in March this year. The government had asked all new cars to comply with this rule from April this year while existing models, like Eeco, had a deadline by August end to comply with this rule.
Added Safety In More Maruti Cars
This indicates that Maruti might soon offer dual airbags as standard safety features across all models in its lineup. Other standard safety features on offer in Eeco include ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors, seatbelt reminder, speed alert system, etc. It is available in both five- and seven-seat layouts with the option of air conditioner and non-AC variants.
When it comes to safety, Maruti has always been on the line of fire, drawing criticism from all corners regarding substandard safety of its cars. Many Maruti cars have secured a zero star rating at Global NCAP since all these models were equipped with either one or no airbags as standard fitment. But modern day Maruti cars have started to fare well at such tests. Brezza managed a 4 star rating, Ertiga got 3 stars. Maruti is now aiming for a 5 star NCAP in their upcoming range of new gen cars.
This development comes at a time when the Government of India is mulling to strengthen its safety norms for passenger vehicles in the country. As of now, it is mandatory for carmakers to offer at least one airbag in a car. However, the government might soon mandate companies to offer six airbags as a standard offering across all car models.
Eeco- Powertrain Specs
Powering Eeco is a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine that kicks out 72 bhp and 98 Nm of peak torque. This motor is paired with a 5-speed manual gearbox as standard. It is also available in a CNG guise where the same engine generates 61 bhp and 85 Nm of torque. Fuel efficiency of the petrol powertrain is rated at 16.11kmpl whereas the CNG variant returns 20.88km/kg.
Upcoming Maruti models
Maruti has its fingers in a lot of pies as the carmaker is planning to launch a plethora of new models in the coming few months. This includes new generation models of Alto, Baleno, Vitara Brezza and S-Cross. The company is also developing a mid-size SUV rivaling the likes of Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. Another 3 row SUV is planned to take on Safari, Hector, XUV700. These new SUVs are being jointly developed in association with Toyota.