After the clash between workers and the managerial staff at the Maruti’s Manesar plant in Gurgaon on Wednesday, it compelled the plant to shut the production of its vehicles. Now the latest news coming in from the company that they have postponed some of their plans which were on priority and the biggest of them is the New Alto 800 small car, which was planned to be coming During Diwali.
Confirming the reports, Maruti Suzuki India’s MD, Shinzo Nakanishi said “Yes, we have to reschedule the launch of the 800 cc car because of the violence at Manesar plant.” However he also added that if the company could recoup from the situation, they will try to conduct the launch at the scheduled time.
The carmaker has planned to commence the production at its New Alto 800 at its Gurgaon plant as early as in July or August 2012. Since the mishap at the Manesar plant has resulted in a lock-down of the same, the automaker has shelved out its plans. On the other hand, Alto has been the record selling model for the car maker in India. However, recently it witnessed a dip in it sales from 30,000 units to 20,000 units, including the sales of Alto K10 as well.
Earlier this-year the company also claimed that this new hatchback will be more fuel efficient and also more expensive than its current entry level hatchback Maruti Alto. However, for the additional cost it will deliver better mileage to the buyers. The reports even suggest that the company instead of giving a complete facelift to the hatchback, Maruti Alto, has tweaked the current powertrain and platform. This has resulted in reduction in the cost of development of the new hatchback from Maruti India.
The company has stopped selling its bread-and-butter model M800 in specific cities across the country, mainly because it does not comply with the Bharat Stage IV norms prevalent in those cities. However, the model is still up for sale in other regions, still Maruti Suzuki decision to launch a new 800 cc car rules out any possible upgrades for the Maruti 800. This will open an exit door for the model once the BS IV norms are applied pan India.
What we say? Maruti Suzuki India is also reported to be working upon a small 800cc 2 cylinder diesel engine which could deliver a mileage of 30 Kmpl.
Also see – Report – Maruti Suzuki working on 800cc 30 kmpl diesel engine
Spied – New Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 dropped camouflage (Updated)
Source – CarDekho
