Betting big on the success of the Celerio hatchback, Maruti will now launch diesel, ZXi AMT and taxi variants of the vehicle soon.

2014 Maruti Celerio Handling Review
The Maruti Celerio sells approximately 5000 odd units every month

The Maruti Celerio was introduced to the masses in 2013 and it has been a best-seller ever since. The hatchback has been selling in good numbers right from day one. Maruti then launched an AMT variant of the Celerio. The AMT gearbox was initially offered with the VXi variant only but there has been a lot of demand from customers who also want added safety features along with the convenience of the AMT box. To cater to this demand, Maruti will soon be launching a ZXi AMT variant of the Celerio and it will come with dual airbags, ABS, body-coloured door handles and mirrors, electric ORVMs, fog lamps, tilt steering, audio system with four speakers, Bluetooth, USB and AUX-in, steering-mounted controls and remote locking.

Apart from this, the rumour mill says that Maruti is readying a taxi variant of the Celerio too. Just like the older Swift DZire which is being sold in the commercial vehicle market as the DZire Tour, the Indian automaker will launch a bare bones variant of the Celerio that will cater to the taxi market. The fact that it is cheap to buy and run and also comes with added piece of mind thanks to Maruti’s stellar service network means that it will be a hit with cabbies. The taxi variant of the Celerio will most likely be an LDi variant but we cannot rule out the possibility of black and yellow CNG cabs too.

Production of the diesel Maruti Celerio has also begun and it will be launched very soon. The diesel Celerio will be powered by an 800cc, twin-cylinder engine that will be aimed at providing high fuel efficiency. Maruti is likely to offer the Celerio diesel in four variants – LDi, VDi, ZDi and ZDi (O). In other news, it seems that Maruti’s other hatchback, the Ritz too is gaining popularity in the local taxi market. We did spot a couple of black and yellow Ritz cabs ready to be delivered while some units of the Ritz cool cab have also been spotted plying around in Mumbai.

Maruti Ritz Taxi
The Ritz offers good space making it a nice choice for cabbies

Source – Team-BHP.com