New Delhi: The country's largest car maker
Maruti Suzuki will launch two of its best selling models --
Alto and Wagon R, with a new generation engine as it prepares
to meet April 2010 deadline of stricter emission norm.
According to industry sources, the company will
discontinue the old F-series engines in both Alto and Wagon R
and replace them with its new K-series engine, which is Bharat
Stage IV complaint.
When contacted a Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) spokesperson
said, "The successful K series engines will be mounted on more
models in a phased manner," without specifying details and
timeline for the change in engines.
Alto is MSI's best selling model. In November last year
it crossed one-million mark in domestic market, while Wagon R
also accounted for a good number to its compact car sales.
The company's newer models such A-Star, Ritz and the new
Estilo are powered by K-series engines, which the company
claims are more fuel efficient and have lesser emission.
With 11 cities in India scheduled to move to stricter
Bharat Stage (BS) IV emission norms from the current BS III by
April next year, MSI has been preparing itself for the change.
It has already upgraded its mid-sized sedan SX4 to make
it BS IV compatible and it will be shortly launched in the
market. A similar upgradation for premium compact car Swift
and entry-level sedan DZire is also on the cards but the
company has decided not to upgrade its oldest model M800 to
meet the new emission norms.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 12:07