The festival season is just around the corner and every auto major in the industry is ready to offer something special. Besides appreciable discounts on select vehicles, we will also be witnessing the launches of a couple of new products. From Maruti Suzuki’s team this Diwali, it will be the 2012 Maruti Ritz facelift that will make its entry probably in September.
Also read – What Is New In 2012 New Maruti Ritz?
It features a restyled exterior which looks neater and more expressive now but that is not the main point. The interesting news is that Maruti will launch the same with an automatic transmission as well. So once Maruti Ritz automatic hits the dealerships, Maruti will have two automatic small cars to offer. Ritz auto will feature a 4 speed gearbox that will not only ensure hassle free driving but good fuel economy as well. The car is aimed at senior citizens and women buyers.
The new Ritz is already being exported to Europe and will be launched with upgraded diesel and petrol engines. In the past Maruti has experimented with automatic transmission in the Wagon-R and Zen, but the significant price difference of Rs. 1 lakh between the manual and automatic variants of the same never helped the company achieve fair enough sales. Then later the company came up with A-Star automatic where the price was kept considerably low and it was a deliberate effort to make this particular variant appeal to buyers.
If you look in the recent past, especially in the automatic small car space, there was not enough demand but in the present market scenario the possibility of a new buyer considering and buying an automatic car, has increased. This is driving force for Maruti who wants to be first brand to make a mark in the very same segment. Although the A-Star sells close to 500 units a month only, 18% to 22% sales come from automatic variant.
At present Maruti offers an automatic option in A-Star, Dzire, SX4, Kizashi and Grand Vitara.
A company official said,
“The margins may not be very high in automatic models because of high import content and lack of local vendors, but we want to be the first mover so that gains may come later. Increasing congestion is improving the case for such cars, plus there are many Indians who return from abroad and look for such options,”
We will keep you posted on the details of the new Maruti Ritz Automatic, stay tuned for more.
Updated on 3rd September 2012
2012 Maruti Ritz Diesel New Model Launched At Rs. 5.31 Lakhs
Updated on 7th November 2012
Maruti Ritz Automatic Launched- Price And Features here.
