New compact Maruti Suzuki car to be a direct rival to the Renault Kwid?

-To be slotted in between Alto range and Wagon R
- Top of the line Alto K10 VXi AMT and equivalent Wagon R VXi AMT are separated by Rs 1.15 lakhs (on-road Delhi)
-Is expected to take on the Kwid as a direct body style
- Will be launched in 2020

Maruti Suzuki has hinted that it will launch a new small car in 2020 that will be slotted in between the Alto range and the Wagon R family of cars. But most importantly, it is expected to be a body-style rival for the likes of the Renault Kwid.

There’s a margin of Rs 1 lakh separating the top spec Wagon R and top spec Alto K10 (both AMT) and that’s a gap which we expect Maruti Suzuki to fill up with this micro-SUV styled hatchback. This car will look SUV but underneath it will be FWD, sub 4 metre and make use of the Japanese automaker’s legendary 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine. This naturally aspirated engine powers a variety of cars and produces 67bhp/90Nm and can be had with a five-speed manual/AMT.

Maruti Suzuki is undoubtedly the king of the A-segment and B-segment in the Indian car market, a fact evident from the monthly sales numbers where six out of the top 10 cars are Maruti Suzuki models. For that matter, among the top 20 most sold cars is the Maruti Suzuki Omni, a design that’s well over 30 years old but still notching up around 6000 units a month.

In the larger scheme of things, Maruti Suzuki has been trying to expand its presence in the larger segments and in that regard, having volumes from multiples models gives it the luxury to direct its attention to this task.The automaker has also hinted at a generational change for the Alto by 2021. This will be the most major update for the range since this generation began life in 2012.