Maruti Suzuki planning a 2-cylinder Alto to challenge Nano

Maruti Suzuki planning a 2-cylinder Alto to challenge Nano

As we’ve reported before, while Maruti Suzuki is still the clear market leader in India, its market share is slowly declining and has gone below the 50% mark in the previous quarter. The company is fighting back with some aggressive plans though – it launched a range of CNG powered cars and the A-Star automatic last month and now, news of Maruti preparing a stripped down version of its best selling Alto has emerged (the Alto in the Indian context is the fifth generation Suzuki Alto, the Suzuki Alto sold in Malaysia is called the A-Star in India).

The new model will be priced 20-25% cheaper than the Rs 2.53 lakh (about RM17,000) Alto Standard. The entry level Standard has an 800 cc three-cylinder engine with no air con and power steering, but the Tata Nano standard version is still Rs 1.3 lakh cheaper. The new base model Alto will narrow the price gap between the Alto and the world’s cheapest car, although Suzuki has said before that it has no interest in making a Rs 1 lakh car.

The planned super basic Alto will be powered by a two-cylinder engine codenamed YP3 and parts sourcing has already begun. Vendors involved in the process say that the car will be launched by the second half of 2011. These haven’t been confirmed by Maruti, but it ties in nicely with the recent phasing out of the Maruti 800 from 13 cities as it does not comply with Bharat Stage IV emission regulations. The 800, Maruti’s cheapest car, is a very old Suzuki Alto that used to be India’s best selling car before the current Alto took over that title.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • xavier lert on Sep 17, 2010 at 2:55 pm

    wow i wonder if someone will build 1 cylinder car to beat this one….

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    • i really happen when perodua viva was designed by USM student to competed in Perodua Eco-challenge.

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    • junaidi on Sep 17, 2010 at 4:28 pm

      hmmm how many cylinders did the Peel P50 have?
      then again, only 1 person can sit in the Peel.

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    • DonkeyKong on Sep 17, 2010 at 11:57 pm

      Maybe a direct-injection fuel-efficient single-rotor rotary engine? Like the one in the e-Tron?..

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  • cis,i thought kelisa replacement..

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  • p1_power on Sep 17, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    this society is M shape already. Its either Ferrari or Tata nano. So its either ultra rich, or dirt poor, lol.

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  • pomen_gtr on Sep 17, 2010 at 4:49 pm

    1cylinder car have been build for centuries….

    (*go-karts it was)

    or go-kart based chasis with bike engine…. :lol:

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  • whatever on Sep 17, 2010 at 4:53 pm

    no aircon? are they dumb or what ?

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    • DonkeyKong on Sep 18, 2010 at 12:08 am

      Some parts of India have mild weather and cool breeze most of the year, like Uttar Pradesh.

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    • balloon on Sep 18, 2010 at 11:00 am

      Sometimes people like whatever should just keep quiet or keep to themselves. Not everyone in India is Rich like you and can buy a CAR ! There are lots of poor people int he world and they cant even afford a motorcycle! When we see people driving motorcycle and we will say they are very dangerous as they are not protected at all! Kudos to TATA and SUZUKI as they are trying to produce a Cheap CAR for the POOR to buy so they can travel in comfort ( comparitive to a motorbike ) and also safer !

      So again whatever please keep quiet and just be lucky as you can own a car .. for those poor people .. i think air cond or power steering is not an issue !

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      • acerman on Sep 18, 2010 at 7:52 pm

        Just like what our P2 which was MEANT to build cars for the LOW INCOME groups but ending up competing with P1.

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        • rahimdin on Sep 19, 2010 at 1:26 am

          Salesman cum ball carrier is in the house.!!
          P1 produces crap that is why P2 outsells P1.
          If P1 can’t even compete with P2 in the local
          market , and can’t outsell P2,
          cannot imagine how they will perform
          in the Indian market. good luck -you’ll need it.!

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  • chinz on Sep 17, 2010 at 5:21 pm

    macam daihatsu mira L500, hahahahahahahhaha!

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  • kaminski on Sep 17, 2010 at 7:13 pm

    It looks like a smaller version of the old Nissan Micra to me!

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  • alldisc on Sep 17, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    this is the kind of competition malaysians should get from car manufacturers.

    viva 660 should be priced at 15K
    viva 1.0 18K
    saga 1.3 25K
    gen2 cps 30K
    vios 40K
    altis 60K
    camry 2.0 75K
    camry 2.4 90K

    because for the record, camry 2.4 without all the taxes and duties are only about 89K (UMW price as referred to Custom Documents for JPJ submission)

    if our new car prices are this low, i would not mind if petrol is RM5.00 per litre.

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    • Cannot be like that lah..
      My Proton how to cari makan if like tat???

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      • alldisc on Sep 18, 2010 at 8:27 am

        can my friend…. proton can sell goreng pisang, perhaps?? profit 15 sen every RM1.00 is a lot better than selling 60K car but but having loss in every financial year report.

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    • only include car cost ..wat bout he other cost…do the importer do not wan profit? don pay trans cost? don giv worker salary? insurance? rent? electicity?phone bill?….all country hav tax or duties..visible or not each country hav its tool to interpret….

      u crazy or wat..rm5/l petrol….do the count

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      • alldisc on Sep 18, 2010 at 8:25 am

        fyi, camry 89K price is including UMW’s margin – the profit is there already.

        remember, in 2002 Kia Spectra was brought into malaysia at less than 10K (factory price) but naza was forced to sell retail at 84K. see how naza group became rich?
        south korea can do it, why not malaysia?

        it is all possible.

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    • Alpha on Sep 18, 2010 at 12:20 am

      athough most of us dislike the high tax,but not tax at all is bullshit my man.there’s a purpose for tax too.it’s not all bad.

      n yeah,i agree with KZM.RM5/l petrol??u gila ah??the cost is waaaaay higher to maintain the car,man!!if the price of car is cheap,but the price of petrol is expensive,ur car will be jz smetg u drive during the weekends(even if it’s a kancil) and Proton will manufacture bicycle instead of cars.

      cheers~

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      • alldisc on Sep 18, 2010 at 8:54 am

        do the maths.

        camry 2.4 is bought at 90K. loan 5 years. already save 75K from current price now.

        consider average mileage is 3,000km. equals to average 300 litres (1L = 100km) which translates to RM1,500 x 5 years = RM7,500.

        What is RM7,500 or petrol over 5 years compare to 75K savings from purchase price??

        with RM5 per litre petrol, government also has no base to grumple against the people. they are making more money than ever.

        in the end – everybody happy!!

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        • Alpha on Sep 18, 2010 at 11:36 am

          u only drives 3000km in 1 year??wow!!then,i dun think a car is the right choice for u.want sometg sporty??get the Mini Cooper bikes~

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        • jong88 on Sep 18, 2010 at 4:49 pm

          Agreed! When Camry caused 90K say with 75K loan monthly loan payment is RM1500 for 5y car loan, current Camry cause 165K with 150K monthly loan payment is RM3000 for 5y car loan. With a RM1500 saved monthly that can off set any inflation cause due to fuel price increase. The perception that without fuel subsidy cost of goods will sky rocket is not true. Our neighbour Thailand has no fuel subsidy cost of living relatively low. Same goes for Singapore.

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        • pomen_gtr on Sep 20, 2010 at 8:15 am

          kawan..

          3000km for me only last about a month…then after that i only have to keep my car in the garage…

          how about fetching mychildrens to/from school???how about sending my wife to office?

          ride motorbike ar??great…if only i got i son/daughter to start with….

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      • littlefire on Sep 18, 2010 at 5:01 pm

        Bro, u only see the fuel price only…

        When car tax, not only the car expensive.. Even the parts are expensive also… if not mistaken imported car parts are also tax heavily, even the fuel is cheap but when spare part are tax high in the end people will suffer also…

        I am those which support fuel to be expensive, as people will only drive it when needed and not simply waste it like that…

        Cars are actually cheap and should not be a burdan as it involves a lot of maintanence.. Is like having a new child in the family… Somemore how many people will actually earn from selling their car second hand? All cars depreciate except ur car is only limited collectors item..

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    • alooo u ni budak sekolah mana ni? kalau minyak rm5/liter, semua benda jadi mahal la.

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      • miss kiah,
        please do the maths calculations before giving the unreliable statement.

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        • c’mon la, based on this nation’s history, bila goment naikkan harga minyak walaupun 10sen, semua peniaga naikkan harga barang jualan atas alasan untuk menampung kos bla bla bla. zulh, are you really ready to embrace the time when fuel == rm5/liter?

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          • i know the situation is really happen. The government have many kind of law to overcome and control the increasing price of goods but lack of enforcement by the KPDNHEP enforcer make the item highly roar. You dont just simply said when the government increase the fuel price, the item will going up too. Eventhough, in festive season the bargainer arbitrarily increase the price item without the permission by the government because of high demand of the consumer because the lack of enforcement the bargainer easily increase the proce without any fear..
            haha
            think about it!

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  • wow..good move…LATEST LANCER GOSIP(car also got gosip~haha)m lancer brought in from mmc japan without front bumper n tyre,,also no mmc badge ,,than they fit tyre,proton badge plus front bumber at port klang n send te car 2 proton shah alam

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    • Alpha on Sep 18, 2010 at 12:21 am

      so the new proton is a CBU too,meh??!!can ah??or perhaps it’s jz the car proton will use to promote it??

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      • bro its as same as what naza doing for peugeot 308vti

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        • alldisc on Sep 18, 2010 at 8:22 am

          same thing with perodua nautica. CBU from japan but without bumpers and other embellishers.

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