Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) launches Sedan SX4

Chennai, May 8: Country's largest carmaker Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) today launched new variants 'Sedan SX4' priced at Rs 6.18 lakh and 'SX4 ZXi' at Rs 6.89 lakh and SX4 Zxi (with leather pack) priced at Rs 7.24 lakh in the city.

Talking to mediapersons after the launch, Company's Marketing and Sales Director Shuzi Oishi and Chief General Manager(marketing) Mayank Pareek said the new variants were targeted at the A3 segment.

The initial capacity of the new premium Sedan will be 2,500 units per month from the company's Manesar plant, they said adding already 1,500 'SX4' have been booked last month and 1000 more were expected to be booked within a couple of days.

Answering a question, they said though there was a slight setback on overall sales figure due to higher interest rates, some thrustful measures like giving more incentives to dealers, customers and others will be taken.

SX4 sedan is the second global car, after Swift, from Maruti's stable. The car is making its debut in India, before being launched in Europe and Japan. SX4 sedan is just the right car with which the company can reinforce its presence in the A3 segment and enhance its leadership, they said adding the new sedan comes with a mixed experience of A4 segment.

To an another question, they said their valuable customers were going for some other cars due to non-availability of an A3 segment car in their portfolio, but they can now can choose the SX4 sedan.

Explaining the salient features of new version of vehicles, they said the 4-valve, 1.6 litre engine will produce a maximum power of 102 bhp @5500 rpm with the help of next generation M-series global engine.

The engine also has a high torque of 145Nm @4200 rpm, which makes driving comfortable. The ground clearance of SX4 sedan is 190 mm, the highest in its segment, they claimed.

The car can be made compatible with the forthcoming Euro-V emissions norms too, if needed, they said and added that MUL intends to sell SX4 in Europe and believe it is compatible with Euro IV and V.

Talking about the company's margins, they said, Maruti is not worried about it and is more interested on maintaining the quality of the product.

UNI