Maruti Suzuki Celerio Diesel
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The Maruti Suzuki Celerio diesel is expected to be the latest addition
to the Indo-Japanese lineup and will be the first vehicle to debut their new
800cc oil burner that has been developed in-house by parent company Suzuki.
Exterior
The diesel Celerio will not look any different from the petrol version
and the only major change is expected to be the badges at the back and on the
side which will say LDI/VDI/ZDI and DDiS respectively.
Interior
Much like the exterior, the inside of the diesel Celerio is not expected
to be any different from the petrol, save for changes to the instrument cluster
with regard to the car becoming a diesel power machine. However, given that
this is a major introduction for the Celerio, it is possible that Maruti Suzuki
may introduce a few updates for the car and then eventually introduce them in
the petrol and CNG versions also.
Engine and gearbox
The engine will be an 800cc three-cylinder diesel mill which is expected
to produce 50bhp and around 150Nm of torque. The engine will be mated to a
five-speed manual which sends power to the front wheels. It is expected to be
tuned for a high amount of efficiency and will have a lot of power concentrated
in the low-end rather than mid-range. The diesel engine means the car will also
be quite heavier than the petrol model and this is likely to affect top-speed
as well as acceleration times.
In the larger scheme of things, this engine is a full-circle for the
Indo-Japanese automaker who began operations 32 years ago with an 800cc
three-cylinder petrol engine when it launched the M800 and Omni.
Price and competition
It is expected to be priced Rs 60,000 to 80,000 more than the equivalent
petrol version. We believe that MSIL is likely to launch only the LDI and VDI
versions in the beginning and will bring in a ZDI variant a few months later
provided there is sufficient demand. Its competition in this range will be the
Chevrolet Beat diesel.
Expected
Launch: May 2015
Expected
Price: 4 - 6 lakhs
