New Maruti Suzuki Wagon R spotted testing in India

Suzuki revealed the next-generation Wagon R and Stingray for the Japanese market in February last year. At that time, we expected the Indian-spec Wagon R to be updated soon as well. And now for the first time, a new and updated Maruti Suzuki Wagon R was spotted undisguised in NCR, Delhi undergoing homologation testing.

The test mule spotted testing has taken a CBU route but was already registered to Maruti Suzuki’s head office. The next-gen Wagon R is expected to move to the carmaker’s lighter and advanced Heartect platform as the Baleno, Dzire and the recently-launched Swift. 

Styling wise, the new car seems to carry the same tall-boy appearance associated with the Wagon R. The headlights are slightly larger and carry a quirky design but not as flamboyant as the Japanese-spec. The grille is a four-slat chrome and the extended front bumper misses out on the fog lamps. The wheels are basic steel ones with wheel covers and the rear seem overly simple. The LED tail lights are tall and squared-off while the bumpers are very simple looking as well. Overall the new Wagon R looks more modern than the current car but still indistinctively a people’s car. On the inside, expect all the features as standard which you get in modern Marutis such as airbags and ABS. Expect the new touchscreen infotainment system as well borrowed from its siblings with a slightly refreshed cabin. Powertrain would be the same three-cylinder 1.0-litre K-Series petrol that puts out 67bhp and 90Nm.

There are speculations of the first-ever diesel to join the powertrain. The diesel Wagon R was never an option and there is no scope for it either. However, the diesel motor is expected to be the all-new unit developed in-house by Maruti Suzuki instead of the Fiat-derived 1.3-litre DDiS used elsewhere. This new oil burner would be BSVI compliant when it rolls out. But we expect the diesel powerplant to join later with just the petrol powered Wagon R to go on sale initially.

The current-gen Wagon R has been around for almost eight years now. The blue-eyed boy got the last update in 2010 and has been soldiering on almost without any major update. Even then, the Wagon R has been one the highest selling Maruti and amongst the top 10 selling cars in the country. It ranked fifth in 2017 selling 1,66,814 units with an average monthly sale of almost 14,000 units. We expect Maruti to launch the new Wagon R sometime around the festive season later this year.

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