Maruti Suzuki Alto Remains The Car To Beat In Its Segment

After the success of the beloved 800, Maruti Suzuki launched the Alto in 2000. A decade after its inception, the car split into two sub-brands — 800 and K10 — offering more choice to buyers.

The 800 variant has been very popular despite receiving minimal updates. Until it was overhauled in 2012, visually, the car remained almost the same as the one that was launched in 2000. The K10 showed up in 2010 and entered its second generation in just four years. With the generation change, it also got the cost-effective AMT-flavoured automatic transmission. The Alto 800 facelift came in 2016, just four years since its launch. It came as a surprise considering that Maruti took over a decade to give the first generation Alto 800 some love. In May 2016, the Alto 800 received a noticeable facelift, fuel efficiency hike and a price drop. The wildly popular Renault Kwid could be the reason behind the change of heart.

The Alto has become the default workhorse for many buyers thanks to its simple and reliable mechanicals. The car can keep munching miles year after year, and the spares are also affordable and readily available.

During the first five months of the 2017 calendar year, the Alto has managed to achieve an average production of over 21,000 units per month with a total output of 1,07,557 pieces. However, it'll be interesting to see the numbers for the month of June as several buyers have put their car purchases on hold thanks to the dilemma over GST. In Delhi, prices of small cars will witness a modest hike while most states will see a marginal drop because of their higher VAT slabs.

While the Kwid couldn't manage to put a big dent in the Alto's sales, its success shows that buyers want more than just a practical and reliable car. Style, space and features also rank very high on many customers' wishlist. Kwid is the only car that has posed a threat to the Alto's might. The car that rarely saw its monthly numbers dip below the 20,000 mark now goes into the teens more often despite an overall positive growth in the industry. Even though the Alto is going strong, the company should come up with something big and bulky with an aggressive price tag to compete with the Renault Kwid.

Time to turn the Crosshiker into a real thing. Fingers crossed!

Also Read: Renault Kwid vs Maruti Alto: Comparison Review

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