After Brief Hiatus, Maruti Alto Regain Spot of Best Selling Car of India in June

It was only recently that the Dzire from India’s largest automaker had left the Alto behind to claim the spot of the most sold car in India. However, now armed with the latest safety upgrades, Alto has taken back the title once again. Taking a look at the numbers one finds that Maruti Suzuki sold 18,733 units of Alto hatchback in June 2019. Meanwhile, the second and third spots were also occupied by Maruti cars; at the second place is Swift hatchback with sales of 16,330 units in June, whereas at the third place one finds the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, with total sales of 14,868 units in June 2019. This should bring at least some respite for the largest carmaker of India as the industry has been going through a rough patch recently and in this mayhem, it is Alto that is the bearer of good news for the company. Amidst decline in sales in almost all segments of cars, it is Alto hatchback that has shown a growth of 4 % on an year-on-year basis. Now that the company has launched a minor facelift for the Alto 800 in the Indian market, its popularity should remain intact for quite some time to come.

Talking of the facelifted Maruti Alto 800, along with the safety updates the new version of Alto also comes with aesthetic upgrades. The engine of the new version of Alto also now complies with the latest BS-VI emission norms that are set to kick in from April next year. The 796cc petrol engine on Maruti Alto 800 now has a mileage of 22.05 Kmpl. This is nearly 2.7 kmpl less than the previous version of the Alto 800. However, there is no change in the output numbers of the Alto 800 and the 5-speed AMT automatic gearbox still remains available only with the bigger engine K10 model of the Maruti Alto.

With the new safety update, there is a new grille and a bumper on the front of the car. The badge sees a change on the rear and the internals have new dual tone dashboard to boast of. This is the same dashboard found on the more powerful Alto K10 variant of the car. A new infotainment unit by the name of Smart Play Dock is also available that comes with Bluetooth music and calling features. Apart form these the dock also allows mobiles to be docked and used as a navigation display.

The new Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) rules mandated some basic safety features and hence Maruti had to update the Alto 800 with driver airbag, ABS, reverse parking  sensors, seat belt reminders and speed alerts. The top variants will also come with a passenger side airbag. The updated version of Alto 800 also complies with the crash test safety norms that are set to be enforced from October this year.  

Apart from the update to the Alto, the company is also planning of bringing out the production version of Future S Concept in the Indian market. The production version of the car will be called S-Presso by the company. The all-new car will take on the likes of Renault Kwid, Tata Tiago and the Mahindra KUV100 in the market. This car is likely to be placed between Alto and WagonR in the Indian market and the company will hope to cash in on the growing SUV trend in the Indian market with this car.