SX4/New City/Verna SX - Sedan under 9 lacs

Ami said it. Considering Maruti's track record, the price would be about 60-75k more than the petrol variants.

As far as buying in first month is concerned, I seriously don't see any issue. It's not a new car anyway. The SX4 has been in the market for more than two years and they will put the same proven Fiat Multijet engine in the car. And again, Maruti's track record is clean in this particular area. You can grab it as soon as it's out, if you like it, of course.

i doubt if the price difference for a hatch will hold good for sedans as well.

You can also consider Linea both Petrol and diesel.

Ford Fiesta is a good car and spares are not very expensive as it used to be. There are a few users of fiesta out here who are very happy with there cars.

Also you can consider a soon to be launched Chevy Cruz which should also fit in your budget.

@Centaur: That is why I had mentioned a range, rather than a fixed number. Plus there will be changes only in the engine and the related part, there needn't be any changes on the body. So Sedan/Hatch doesnt actually make a HUGE difference.

@Uneet: Cruz is rumoured to come in the 10+ category and will compete with the likes of Corolla/Civic/Skoda's etc.

We in India have excessive obsession with diesels even though they are much noisier,much more expensive to maintain and even if they do not even pay for themselves.

I did my sums when I last purchased SX4 petrol.

Verna diesel is much noisier at slow speed in city and its gear and steering vibrate quite a lot, probably the large engine has its effect.Moreover,the diesel version is costlier by 1.1 lacs which becomes 1.5 lacs in 5 yrs with interest.Your net  saving is nothing if you run  less than 1 lac km.

Your running is very much less and just does not qualify for diesel.Be aware of the fact that if your car is used less and you have diesel engine version,people will doubt your milage when you go to sell it in used market.

Ford Fiesta used to be a good car but it is old and oudated now and its back seat is very tight,buy one in used market if you so desire as it depriciates fast.

Linea is underpowered car and you will find overtaking tough.

Diesel engines are noisy, but these days not that much(there are exceptions). Maintenance cost come at 10-15% above petrols.

Price differences starts as low as 50k(Punto).

There is one thing in diesel that ppl like and consider: Torque and Feel of the turbo.

In cars like Verna/Accent/Indica/Vista/Swift/Ritz/Punto the diesels perform much better than the petrol counterparts.

Go for the honda city S/mt.

I don't think Maruti has a choice. SX4 on-road price at 9.5L doesn't make sense, does it? Higher price could have been possible if they launch the 1.6 MJD.

SX4 ZXI is a value packed car with lots of power and features.But they may be able to get away with high price for diesel version because of the excessive obsession of customer with diesel in India.It is not so  abroad (U S  and europe etc) and so the price difference between petrol and diesel  version cars is marginal there.The market behaviour in India is putting undue power in hands of Car Cos here to price diesel version so very high.

If Chevy will price its cruze in the range of altis and civic than it will not sell. They have to price in the range 9L to sustain in the market as given a choice people will choose a Honda or Toyota brand over any other brand in the same price range.