We have reposted you sometime back that Maruti Suzuki India is going to replace the Maruti Alto 800 CC car and the Maruti 800 with a new car codenamed YE3 by the end of 2012. We have also brought the information that Maruti Suzuki will not launch Maruti Cervo in India anytime soon as speculated by some. In recent developments, one of our fellow blogs have caught the upcoming Maruti Alto 800 replacement car on camera with three spy shots shares form all angles. Maruti Alto 800 replacement car is a small car based on the Maruti Alto platform but it has been designed from scratch if the exteriors and body panels are seen closely.
Using the same platform, the dimensions remain very close to the existing Alto car but the car seems to be a bit longer with a lot more personality and charisma. The new small car seems to have what it takes to give some real competition to the rivals like Eon. Starting from the front, the nose seems to be inspired by Maruti A-Star with a hexagonal large grille and small chin. Large air-dams and grille not only make it looks aggressive but also add to good airflow though the radiator and Air conditioning radiators making the car cool and fuel efficient.
Maruti Alto 800 Exteriors and Interiors Review Video
There is lot of sculpting on the bonnet with the curvy lines running from the head lamps to the lower edges of the front windshield. The headlamps are also new and much forward looking in terms of comparison to the Alto. Front looks like a fusion of A-Star, Figo and Brio to me. Interestingly, the windshield looks very similar in shape and design to that of an Alto, which maybe a deliberate design decision to reduce number of components and save cost. There is a horizontal chrome strip between the bonnet and large front bumper with Suzuki logo in the middle which is also quite new.
Taking of the side profile, it does look familiar from here with an Alto like profile, but there are pronounced wheel arches and a crease running from front till rear giving it a dynamic styling which we have seen in Brio. The roof line also seems much higher than Maruti Alto which means better headroom and more interior space. The engine compartment has also become smaller in proportion to the overall size of the car making more cabin space like we find in cars like A-Star, Hyundai i10 and Honda Jazz. Apart from this the windows glasses on the sides are large in size to allow more light to get in and give a more airy and spacious look to the cabin. In these pictures we also observe the front seats have integrated fixed-head restrains which save cost. The interiors are grey in color but the dashboard design seem to have improved drastically over the Alto. There is a central rounded space which looks like large AC vents in the middle with the rounded vents at the sides of the dashboard. The tyres look like standard 12 inch tubeless units with wheel-covers in place.
Looking at the rear of the car, the design does seem highly inspired by A-Star here too with similar looking rear windshield, similar logo and badge placement on the rear boot door. The tail lamps placement and shape hugely resemble the i20 and there is a centrally mounted rear stop lamp inside the car visible at the top-mid of the rear windshield.
Maruti Alto 800 Replacement Car YE3 First Impressions
As per our first impressions by seeing the design elements and pictures from all angles, it seems like a promising proposition from Maruti Suzuki to replace the Alto and Maruti 800 across India. The car will be powered by an FD8 (or improved FD8) units with fuel economy of over 20 KMPL per litre of petrol. With new design, improved interior space and quality, if Maruti Prices the car competitively, Maruti Alto 800 Replacement aka YE3 can bring the lost charm and sales performance of Maruti Alto back. Going forwards in coming few years, we expect Maruti Suzuki to also come out with the diesel engine model of its small cars with a sub-1 litre diesel engine which may also be fitted in the Alto replacement in future which can be a win-win for the Maruti small car buyers and Maruti Suzuki India as the demand of diesel cars is very high as compared to the petrol cars with crazy petrol prices.
Updates on 25 June 2012
Some fresh spy pictures of new 2012 Alto 800 have been spotted by Car Dekho and have been shared recently. The previous spy shots by OnCars and the new ones are same except that the badging, branding and all the curves of the car are much more visible in the new shots. The biggest revealing from these shots is the name of the car, which will be Alto 800, Maruti has intelligently chosen to not let go of the brand name and heritage attached to this name. Alto has been the best seller from Maruti’s stable and has recently crossed a mark of 20 Lakh Alto sales in India, using the same name will help Maruti to use the existing brand value for its new car.
The front grille is more like A-Star and hexagonal in shape, the headlamps are also much bolder and give a better masculine character to the front fascia of Alto. There are contour lines on the bumper at the bottom and middle which give a sculpted appearance to the front which is much better than the plain looks of old-generation Alto 800.
Talking of the rear, the car looks much more premium compared to the old generation Alto with chunky tail lamp cluster, better looking sculpted bumper and rear tailgate and as it appears from the spy picture, the Lxi variant (which maybe base or second from base variant) gets the body coloured bumpers as standard. Also the cheap looking sticker badging is expected to be replaced by silver monograms which give much premium appearance to the rear of the car.
From the side profile and roofline, the car seems to have improves on interior space for much steeper hatch door for increasing interior space, higher roofline for more headroom and large glass area to give a more airy and spacious feel to the cabin of the car. There are also sculpted lines running from front to rear between the wheel arches on the side profile which adds to the cosmetic appeal of the car.
2012 Alto 800 new model will also get a more fuel efficient as well as a better performing 800 CC petrol engine which is an improved engine over the previous one (FD8) on the old Alto 800. The new 2012 Alto 800 is expected to help Maruti gain its sales numbers for Alto to its glorious levels which it has seen in the past. We will keep you posted on the same, stay tuned.
Maruti Alto 800 will come with factory fitted CNG kit as an option just the the older generation Alto with 800 CC engine. The FD8 800 CC engine is already works quite well with the CNG-kit which comes fitted from Maruti Suzuki without any warranty issues. At the times when the price difference between petrol and diesel is quite high and more and more new buyers are opting for Diesel cars, it makes perfect sense for Maruti to offer small petrol cars with CNG so that more buyers get attracted towards them. CNG offers low running cost like a diesel car with lesser initial cost and lesser maintenance charges when compared to a diesel car. For a first time buyer, it makes sense to go for a low price car with lower running cost of a CNG engine. Below are some spy pictures which have surfaced recently and prove that Maruti Alto 800 with Factory Fitted CNG is already tested and will debut along with the petrol version in India.
The base variant LXi of Alto 800 in cherry red colour has been spied with a factory fitted CNG kit. The front of the Alto 800 looks quite clear in this picture with wheel covers, body coloured bumpers etc.
The steering has an SRS airbag in it and the instrument cluster looks quite neat but basic. There is a large analogue speedo meter which reads up to 180 KMPH with a digital odometer and trip meter just below it. The air conditioning controls looks quite basic with rotating knobs and interestingly, the power windows controls have been placed behind the gear knob in the central console away from the driver door trim. This is the way we see it in the Tata Nano also. Probably this is a cost cutting measure as there will be only two switches if placed centrally otherwise there are two on the driver side door trim and one of passenger door trim.
The AC louvers on the top of central console are now oval in shape while the sire AC vents are circular adding to styling touches on the interiors. As per our sources close to Maruti, the Alto 800 maybe launched in mid of October 2012 just before the start of festival season in India.
Maruti Alto 800 has been driven by some selected set of media persons in India and the launch date of 2012 Maruti Alto 800 in India is 16 October 2012. Apart from the launch date, detailed specifications of the Alto 800 have been revealed as mentioned in the image below:
Maruti Alto 800 Specifications
Highlights include a reduction in size of the car by 100 mm in length, increase in power and torque by about 10% by using better technology and light weight parts in the engine. The mileage of 2012 Alto 800 is 22.70 KMPL as tested by ARAI, which is again an improvement of about 10%. It is mated to a 5 speed gearbox, the car is also lighter in weight which makes it more frugal.
The body is monocoque construction making it more rigid, the weight of several components has been cut to make the car light, use of plastic intake manifold has not only cut cost over the aluminum one, but also saved some kerb weight. Use of slim seats, light tone interiors, better interior design etc. all make new Maruti Alto 800 an even more attractive package. We will share more details as they are revealed.
Maruti Alto 800 Front view – Missing left hand side outside rear view mirror (cost cutting)
Maruti Alto 800 Side profile
Maruti Alto 800 Price In India
Maruti Alto 800 has been launched officially on 16th October 2012 and the pre-launch booking is already started online as well as at dealers end. As per the official numbers released few days back, Maruti Suzuki has already received around 10,000 bookings from customers even before the official launch.
Maruti Alto 800 Is Launched At Rs. 2.44 Lakhs- For Complete Price List of Alto 800, click here.
Also read –
- 2012 Maruti Alto 800 Vs Old Maruti Alto
- Maruti Alto 800 Vs Hyundai Eon
- Leaked pictures of Maruti Alto 800
Stay tuned for latest updates from Car Blog India
