Maruti Suzuki is on a roll, will launch a new car Ignis and a Baleno variant this year

In order to maintain the double-digit growth rate that it had in the last fiscal, India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki has decided to add one new car and a new variant of an existing model to its portfolio. Both the cars will be retailed only through Nexa, its premium dealership network.

The New Delhi headquartered company will be rolling out a compact vehicle, christened as Ignis, while also launching a version of the Baleno compact which would be sold as RS variant.

"We plan to drive in these two cars around the festive season," said Maruti Suzuki director (marketing and sales) R S Kalsi. As of now, the Nexa stores sell the S-Cross crossover and Baleno, because they are positioned as more upmarket and premium.

The new compact car Ignis will be pitched to customers as a smart city car. Even though Nexa stores don’t have the variety of small cars, the company hopes to widen the choice at Nexa outlets with Ignis. Ignis was showcased at the auto expo at Greater Noida at the beginning of this year, describing it as a "smart compact urban vehicle".

Baleno’s RS variant will come with a 1-litre direct injection, turbo-charged petrol engine, which would be more fuel-efficient, smaller in size and able to deliver a power output higher to the existing 1.2-litre petrol variant. It will carry a bold and aggressive design language, so that it can be pitched as a sportier variant.

Baleno, which has been named after an earlier model from the company, has seen a sale of around 45,000 units. On the other hand, another new car from Maruti, Vitara Brezza, has seen over 38,000 bookings so far.

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