WHEN: April 12, 2012
HOW MUCH: Rs 7 – 9 lakh
ENGINES: 1.4-litre petrol, 95 PS; 1.3-litre diesel, 90 PS
COMPETITION: Mahindra Xylo, Chevrolet Enjoy, Nissan Evalia, Ford B-Max
Maruti is all set to launch the Ertiga MPV in India on April 12 next week. The Ertiga is the production version of the RIII concept that Maruti displayed at the 2010 Auto Expo in New Delhi.
The Maruti Ertiga is built on a stretched platform of the Maruti Swift, and features monocoque construction, where the body of the vehicle forms the frame as well. It’s important to make note of this, since the Ertiga is the first in this segment of MPVs to do so. A monocoque construction makes the body lighter and also provides for better driving dynamics.
From the styling, it is evident that Maruti’s designers have worked to give the Ertiga a family look, in keeping with the design of other Maruti products, notably the new swift and the Ritz. The headlights look very nice, and there’s a clear connect with the new Swift’s lamps there. The front bumper and the big grille also share similarities with the Ritz.
The new Ertiga boasts of rather compact exterior dimensions, measuring just 4265mm from stem to stern. However, the wheelbase is a generous 2740 mm, which is just slightly less than the Mahindra Xylo and the Toyota Innova, which are much bigger MPVs. This ensures that the Ertiga is very well packaged, with substantial interior room given the compact dimensions. The transverse installation of the engine and the front-wheel drive layout have ensured that Maruti’s engineers have been able to make the engine bay extremely compact as well, maximising in-cabin space in the Ertiga.
As its RIII antecedents denote, the Ertiga has three rows of seats, capable of accommodating 7 passengers comfortably, and 8 at a squeeze. The third row is accessed by flipping forward the middle bench. However, the middle row itself splits 60:40, allowing access from either side. Further, the middle row can slide through a range of 240mm, making for huge legroom for the middle-row passengers, provided there’s nobody else at the back. With all seats up, luggage room is restricted to a couple of soft bags, but you can fold and stow the third row if you like.
Powering the Eritga is a new K14 petrol engine, part of the popular K-series engine family. This 1.4-litre petrol engine produces an adequate 95 PS of power, and 130 Nm of torque. There’s also the option of the Fiat-sourced Multijet diesel engine, which produces 90 PS, the same output as found in the SX4. Both engines are mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. However the light weight (1160 kg for the petrol and 1235 kg for the diesel) ensure that performance is not compromised in any way. Real world fuel efficiency should be good too, with ARAI certifying the two models at 16.1 kpl for the petrol and 20.8 kpl for the diesel. The light weight is in no doubt due to the monocoque construction, which makes use of high-strength steel for most of the structure.
The Maruti Ertiga will be available in three trim levels from launch. These include the LXi, VXi and ZXi petrols, and LDi, VDi and ZDi diesels. Maruti is offering ABS on the VXi and VDi as standard. The ZXi and ZDi get two front airbags as well, for the driver and front passenger. However, climate control is not available on any variants, although Maruti will equip the mid-sped VXi/VDi and top-end ZXi/ZDi with dual ACs.
The new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga’s price will be announced at the official launch in Mumbai on April 12. We expect that Maruti will be keen to price the Ertiga as competitively as possible, with prices for the base petrol model starting around the Rs 7 lakh mark, ex-showroom. The Ertiga has all the makings of turning into a big seller for Maruti. Indians love travelling with families, and the new Ertiga makes a very convincing case as the ideal family car.
