5 reasons why Maruti Celerio is a grand hit

Maruti's new hatchback Celerio is among a handful of models that command a waiting list even in today's sluggish auto market. Last month Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava told NDTV that the Celerio has been clocking 1,000 bookings a day. At this rate, Celerio, which was launched just two months ago at the Delhi Auto Expo, could surpass Maruti's own Alto as India's best-selling car. Maruti Alto has a sales volume of around 20,000-25,000 units per month.. We take a look at why Indian buyers are ready to wait even six months to get delivery for this model.. Pricing. The Celerio starts at a competitive price of Rs. 3.76 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), and the automated manual transmission (AMT) version costs just Rs 38,000 more, starting from Rs. 4.14 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). From the hatchback stable, Ford's Figo starts at Rs 3.86 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), Hyundai's i10 starts at Rs 3.87 lakh and General Motor's Chevrolet Beat at Rs 3.92 lakh.. Auto expert Tutu Dhawan says, "Celerio's pricing is fantastic and the difference of Rs 38,000 between the automatic and the manual shift is the main reason behind its popularity.". Auto shift. The Celerio's offering of an automatic variant at a competitive price point in the mass segment has come as a boon for many, given city driving conditions. Also, for those who have just started driving, the technology is much easier to handle without having to press the clutch pedal or change gears in the regular 'H' way.. The Celerio's automatic technology unlike a conventional auto transmission does not actually shift gears itself and is precisely why it promises to be as fuel efficient as the manual variant. Why Maruti calls it an automated manual transmission is because it does not have a clutch pedal and the gear function is fairly simple- push the gear up to go up and down to drop a gear, unlike the 'H' gear shift in manual transmission where first gear is up, second is down, three is up again, four down and five up.. Maruti had launched an automatic variant of the Zen almost two decades back, but it could not catch the buyers fancy because of the near Rs 1 lakh difference between the automatic and the manual variants. In more recent times, an automatic variant of the A-Star was introduced which was Rs 51,000 more than the manual version. However, it has now been discontinued.. Low maintenance technology. Maruti says Celerio's auto shift technology is "hassle-free and low on maintenance". It says it wants to break the myth that auto gear technology is expensive. Auto expert Tutu Dhawan says, "The A-Star had a conventional automatic gear box and hence was expensive to maintain. The Celerio's automatic technology is an evolved one. The new technology is very good and economical, cheap to maintain.". Fuel efficiency. Maruti claims that Celerio, even with its automatic technology, delivers fuel-efficiency of 23.1 km per litre. This gives the ease of driving an automatic with the fuel efficiency of a manual transmission. The mileage conscious Indian consumer is rather particular about this aspect of car ownership and Maruti has over the years been able to pip competition with its fuel efficient models.. After sales comfort. Maruti's spare parts are available readily at stores. And the wide network of service centres has tilted many a car buyers' decision in favour of Maruti over the years. Celerio has the potential of sparking off a shift towards automatics in India.

5 reasons why Maruti Celerio is a grand hit

NDTV Profit

NDTV Profit

Follow Us

DOWNLOAD THE APP