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Maruti’s 1 Lakh car : Suzuki Cervo

Maruti-Suzuki has been denying the fact that its looking forward to compete with TATA motors on the Nano project. But it seems they have changed their mind, considering the fact that competitors are giving out better vehicles. They recently organized a rural car fair in Singur smack in the heart of TATA Nano’s national production base. The idea was to simply put on show the company’s vast product portfolio and shell out the good deals to hook buyers picking up on the strong loyalty base it has built up over the past few decades. Interestingly, In the three day fair, Maruti-Suzuki sold 20 cars.

Maruti now has felt the need to change the 800 model which started life back in some 18`th century or so. So they are planning to replace it by Suzuki Cervo, which is powered by a 660cc engine offering 54 bhp. Its turbo-charged variant offers 60 bhp, more power than the Alto and the Maruti 800 and nearly the same as Wagon R”s 64 bhp. Cervo meets Japan”s 4-star emission standards and exceeds the 2010 fuel economy standards by about 10%.

TATA’s Rs 1-lakh car, scheduled to hit the market by 2008-end, if Maruti goes forward with the plan. The other flank will be the new 660cc small car being developed at Suzuki”s headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan. The new Maruti 800 will be on the existing platform but would sport a more contemporary look, entirely different from the current product. Both cars are likely to be priced aggressively against Tata Nano.

Suzuki’s car shall be more fuel efficient than any other car in the segment. M800 is also the most fuel efficient car in India offering mileage of 18-20 km per litre.