Maruti Suzuki Ritz, which had created history by achieving the fastest ever 50,000 sales, has now clocked the fastest ever sales of 100,000 units today in A-2 premium segment. The car which was launched in May 2009 has received an incredible response in the competitive ‘A-2 premium’ segment. Ritz delivers fuel efficiency of 17.7 kmpl in petrol and 21.1 kmpl in diesel.

“We are overwhelmed by the terrific response given by our customers to the Maruti Suzuki Ritz. The Ritz was targeted at our discerning customers who, while valuing the traditional Maruti Suzuki attributes of fuel efficiency, reliability and performance, also desired contemporary looks and attitude in the vehicle. The fastest 1 lakh sales mark is customers’ endorsement to all these attributes Ritz stands for,” Mr. Mayank Pareek, Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales), Maruti Suzuki, said.

Siemens is building up a fleet of 100 electric vehicles in order to demonstrate that the vision of electric driving has already become a reality at the company. The vehicles (Maruti Ritz/Suzuki Splash) will be used and tested by employees. Called 4-S (4-Sustain­electro­mobility), the pilot project is focusing on the interplay between the electric cars and their infrastructure. Besides testing of the components, the project’s objective is to R&D new business models. Siemens expects there will be more than one million electric cars on the road in the near future, when they will form part of a smart grid.

The pilot project is divided into three stages and will initially be limited to the company locations in Munich and Erlangen. During the first stage, which will kick off in November, 20 vehicles will be given for testing to employees in southern Erlangen and in Munich’s Neuperlach district. The focus will initially be on testing the infrastructure. During the second stage, which is scheduled to commence in spring 2011, 15 electric vehicles will be equipped with a drive system developed by Corporate Technology (CT) and subsequently tested by employees. At the same time, Siemens will set up an in-house electric car-sharing system in Berlin. In the final stage, which is to start in fall 2011, the vehicles will be fitted with drive systems from the industry sector.

After completing a year in the Indian car market, Maruti Suzuki has launched the special Limited Edition Ritz Genus. The Ritz Genus offers a host of new additional features such as Keyless entry, Tilt steering, Parcel tray, Distinct Body graphics, Rear wash and wiper, Radio + CD player with speaker, Body side moldings and Dual tone dashboard. Only 5000 units of the Ritz Genus will be available and will be delivered over the next three months. Based on the Ritz VXi, the Genus available in both petrol and diesel priced at Rs 4.52 lakh and Rs 5.31 lakh respectively (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi).

Maruti Suzuki has been successfully exporting the A-Star to Europeand now its South East Asia’s time to get cars from Maruti. The company has made the first shipment of 500 units of Ritz to the Indonesian market. The A-Star is exported to 44 countries, predominantly in Europe, along with Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The company already has a comparatively goods market in Indonesia with a cumulative export of 11,145 cars of various models.

Maruti Suzuki has launched a celebration edition of the Ritz. The Ritz Aura (Tata Motors is not impressed) comes with MP3 player with USB port, body side moulding, very important Aura decal, body graphics, security system and twin front speaker set. The Ritz Aura comes with a diesel heart and will be available only in Ahmedabad and Mumbai region.

Maruti dealers are reporting that buyers of the newly launched Ritz prefer the petrol version, over the diesel. In fact, about 70% of current Maruti Ritz sales are for the 1.2-litre petrol engine version, with the remaining opting for the 1.3-litre Multijet diesel version. This marks a significant shift in preference among buyers of B-segment hatchbacks who have traditionally preferred diesel versions for their lower running costs. In fact, the sales of existing models like the Maruti Swift are evenly split between their petrol and diesel versions and in some months the diesel even outsells the petrol version.

Among the major reasons for this preference for the Ritz petrol is that it is significantly cheaper than the diesel version. The entry level Ritz LXi petrol is priced at Rs. 4.51 lakh on road in Mumbai, while the base diesel LDi version is priced at Rs. 5.34 lakh, making it cheaper by a substantial Rs. 83,000. The difference narrows somewhat, as buyers move to higher trim levels. The petrol VXi version (with ABS) is priced at Rs. 5.14 lakh, while the diesel VDi (with ABS) is priced at Rs. 5.93 lakh, a still substantial difference of Rs. 79,000.

On the other hand, the difference in prices for the Swift petrol and diesel versions is narrower. For example, the Swift LXi is priced at Rs. 4.7 lakh on road in Mumbai, while the base diesel LDi is Rs. 5.37 lakh, a difference of Rs. 67,000. For the higher VXi petrol version the price is Rs. 5.04 lakh, while the equivalent diesel VDi version is Rs. 5.75 lakh, a difference of Rs. 71,000.

Another reason for the popularity of the Ritz petrol is that it is powered by Suzuki’s new generation KB series engine which offers improved refinement and relatively better fuel economy. This helps it to narrow the gap in terms of efficiency and running costs between the petrol and diesel versions. On the other hand, the 1.3-litre petrol engine in the Swift is actually derived from the now phased out Esteem model and is a much older design. Due to its improved technology and slightly smaller size, the Ritz petrol engine offers fuel economy of 11.8 kpl in the city and 17.2 kpl on the highway, compared to 11.5 kpl in the city and 16.2 kpl on the highway for the Swift petrol engine.

The increased popularity of petrol engines among hatchback buyers is an important new trend in the Indian automotive industry. It is also an indication of the increasing maturity and sophistication of car buyers in India, who are carefully weighing the pros and cons of petrol and diesel versions and not buying diesel merely out of habit.

Source – ACI

The recently launched Maruti Ritz is giving Hyundai sleepless nights. The Ritz looks like a Swift from the front, WagonR from the side and totally lost at the rear. The interiors have been given a touch of style but still nothing out of the box, quite similar to the A-Star and the Swift. If Bajaj Auto is known for launching million bikes on the same platform, Maruti is no different. The Ritz is so similar to the Swift in so many aspects that you would wonder why would Maruti want to canabalise? But Maruti is happy as long as cars from the Maruti family are sold.

The Ritz is quite similarly priced to the Swift, but the petrol engine is quite different, but not for long. Maruti needs to differentiate these two cars, maybe plonking in a M15 (1.5 litre M-Series engine with VTT producing 100bhp) in the Swift will help. Anyways coming back to the Ritz, there is a marginal increase in the legroom and boot space compared to the Swift. Other then that if a choice had to be made between the two, it would be so confusing that we are sure some prospective customers would end up in a Hyundai showroom.

Maruti Suzuki has launched its latest small car Ritz in both petrol and diesel variants, offered at an introductory price of Rs 3.90-4.99 lakh. The Ritz has been developed on the existing Swift’s platform and common usage of the platform helped the company to offer Ritz at a lower price.

“Ritz is our parent Suzuki’s fifth global model and it will be the first Bharat Stage-IV emission norms compliant Indian car. We have launched it at the beginning of the fiscal and we hope it will bring excitement in the market,” Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi said. “Also higher level of localisation helped us in reducing the cost. Ritz has 85 per cent of localisation in components,” Nakanishi added.

The petrol version of Ritz would be available in three variants in the price range of Rs 3.90 lakh to Rs 4.80 lakh, while the diesel engine car would be available in two variants between Rs 4.65 lakh and Rs 4.99 lakh.

Within a few hours time, Maruti will launch the Ritz in India. The Ritz will compete with the Swift, according to Maruti. However the competition is more with the Hyundai i10. Checkout the pictures of the Maruti Ritz after the jump.

Pictures courtesy of Zigwheels.

The Maruti Ritz is going to be launched tomorrow.The Ritz managed to get 4 stars in Euro NCAP test, which is quite good, the upcoming Fiat Grande Punto managed to get 5 stars. The Ritz is globally known as the Splash and Maruti wanted to use the same name in India, but Ford has registered the name first, so Maruti had to name the car, the Ritz. The car will come in three variants – LXi/LDi, VXi/VDi, ZXi and two engine options, the diesel DDiS and the recently announced KB12 petrol, both engines are Bharat IV ready.

Dimensions:
Length x Width X Height : 3710mm X 1680mm X 1590mm
Wheelbase: 2360mm
Front track: 1470mm
Rear track: 1480mm
Ground Clearance: 170mm
Turning Radius: 4.5mm
Kerb Weight: Petrol – 1045 kgs, Diesel – 1150 kgs
Fuel Tank Capacity: 45 liters
Boot Capacity: 205 liters

Engines:
1.2 KB Series 4-Cylinder Petrol
All Aluminium 1197 cc DOHC
16 Valves, 4 Valves Per Cylinder
Max Power: 85PS@5500 RPM
Max Torque: 117NM@4200 RPM

1.3 DDiS 4-Cylinder Diesel
All Aluminium, 1248 cc DOHC
16 valves, 4 valves per cylinder
Fixed Geometry Turbocharger with Intercooler
Max power: 75PS@4000 RPM
Max Torque: 190NM@1,750-2,250RPM

Brakes:
Front: Ventilated Disc
Rear: Drum, leading and trailing (self-adjusting)
ABS: Standard on ZXi/Optional on VXi/VDi

Suspension:
Front: MacPherson strut & coil spring
Rear: Torsion beam & coil spring

Tyres:
165/80 R14 (LXi/LDi, VXi/VDi with steel wheels)
185/70 R14 (ZXi with alloys)

Standard Features:

LXi/LDi

Exteriors
Body Coloured Bumpers
Steel Wheels with hub cap

Interiors
Power Steering
Adjustible Front Seat Head Restraint

Safety
4 ELR seat belts with lap belt for 5th passenger
iCATS

VXi/ VDi – adds on to Lxi/Ldi

Exteriors
Body Coloured Mirrors and Door Handles
Front and Rear Fog Lamps
Full Wheel Covers

Interiors
Audio System, Integrated cd/mp3/wma with aux-in
2 Speakers
A/C and Heater (HVAC)
Dual Digital Trip Meter
Manual Central Locking
All 4 power windows
Rear Seat Single Bench Folding
Power Outlet On Central Console
Vanity Mirror On Left Sun Visor
Front and Rear Seat Adjustable Head Restraints
Grey and Black Dual Tone Interior
Fabric Insert on door trims
Front Seat Back Pocket (behind driver’s seat only)
3-position Central Cabin Light
Co-Driver Seat Under Tray

Safety
4 ELR Seat Belts with lap belt for 5th passenger
iCATS

ZXi adds on to VXi

Exteriors
Alloy Wheels with 185/70 R14 tyres
Chrome Plated Front Grille

Interiors
AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL
Silver Lining on central console
Silver Finished 3-spoke steering wheel
Stereo Remote (separate)
Tilt Steering
Driver’s seat height adjuster
Pop-Up Tachometer
Rear Parcel Tray

Safety and Security
iCATS
Dual Airbags
ABS Standard
Remote Keyless Entry Security System
Rear Defogger
Rear Wiper and Washer

Colour Options :-

Pearl Metallic Arctic White
Silky Silver
Midnight black
Almore Grey
Green
Cool Blue
Ravishing Red
Chocolate Brown