A few days ago we told you that Maruti Suzuki had launched an automatic variant of the Ritz. While they provided technical details as well as features, Maruti did not announce any prices. Now, via the official site, MSIL has confirmed that the Ritz AT will cost Rs 6.51 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). This is the same price for both the metallic paint and non-metallic paint versions.
However, as per the prices listed on the site, the difference between the VXi AT and VXi MT is more than Rs 1.5 lakh leading us to believe that the mentioned amount is a hiked price. It is also likely that the Ritz AT will only be available only in January as model year 2013 version.
This will be Maruti’s fourth automatic vehicle after the A-Star automatic and the Dzire automatic. It will compete with similar B-segment cars like the Honda Brio automatic and the Hyundai i10 automatic of which we believe that the former is currently doing quite well. However, despite updating the site, the Indo-Japanese automaker has not made any official announcement on the car.
The car is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine producing 83bhp and 114Nm. It is mated to the same four-speed automatic gearbox found both in the A-Star and the Swift Dzire.
The automatic option is only available with the VXi petrol engined variant that has a company-claimed efficiency of 17.6 kilometres to the litre. This is an impressive number given that fuel efficiency in the manual variant is around 18.5kmpl. Despite the auto box, the car only weighs 20 kilos more than the manual VXi.
Apart from the gearbox, the rest of the car is similar to the manual transmission VXi variant. The Ritz is also being offered in three new colours; Mystique Red, Breeze Bue and Granite Grey.
