Maruti XA-Alpha Compact SUV (codenamed YAD)
Maruti Suzuki being one of the biggest sellers in the Indian market is preparing to launch a compact SUV whose conceptual prelim was seen in the Auto Expo in New Delhi last year. The upcoming Maruti XA-Alpha would be the most awaited compact SUV, after the Ford EcoSport in the Indian market whose production model is expected to be launched by the end of 2014 or early 2015 in India.
Maruti Suzuki is taking this initiative in order to compete with the successful SUV’s such as Renault Duster, Mahindra S101 and the upcoming Ford EcoSport. This compact SUV is expected to be categorized under sub-4-meter category and hence will enjoy the least 12% excise duties like EcoSport. The 60:40 two row seating arrangement as seen in Duster and the upcoming Ford Ecosport would be available in this compact SUV.
The XA-Alpha would be available in diesel version such as VDI, ZDI and ZDI+ along with all-wheel-drive version expected. This gives us a hint that Maruti might not want to price it very competitively. Also, its unclear at the moment if Maruti adds petrol variant to its line-up. This compact SUV would be a 5-seater and will be one of the four upcoming SUV’s from the country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki.
The XA-Alpha based compact SUV codenamed as ‘YAD’ would inherit the interior elements such as dashboard, seats etc from the existing range of hatchbacks and SUV such as Ertiga, Swift Dzire. At 1600mm height of XA-Alpha concept is 95mm lower than Duster’s 1695mm (including roofrails). Thus, the XA-Alpha is also expected to gain on its height in the final production model.
Apart from this, we already know the following official details about XA-Alpha concept from the official press release in Auto Expo 2012 –
- Overall Length: 4000mm
- Over Width: 1900 mm
- Overall Height: 1600mm
- Seating Capacity : 5 persons
- Tyre: 255/50 R19
- Wheelbase: 2500mm
Also see – 2012 Auto Expo – Maruti Suzuki unveils XA Alpha SUV concept
Source – Motorbash
