Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) announces that their mid-size sedan Ciaz has reached the milestone of 1 lakh unit sales in June 2016. It took nearly two years for the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz to cross the milestone. Launched in October 2014, the sedan sold over 1,00,272 units, said the Maruti Suzuki, in a statement.
Maruti Suzuki Ciaz Pips Veteran Honda City?
The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has turned out to be the most successful model of the Maruti in the segment, as both the Baleno and the SX4 could not pip their segment archrival, the Honda City. Only the Ciaz could manage to beat the new generation model of Honda City, launched in January 2014, by going over 5000 units, while the city remained under 5000 units.
The trend began since January 2016, from when the Ciaz dominated for five continuous months with more than 500 units sold each month. So, the Ciaz sold over one lakh cumulative units, which took 18 months for Maruti’s sedan, while the Honda City sold over 2 lakh units, since January 2014.
Many Segment First and Class-leading Features of the Ciaz
The sales boost was fostered by Maruti’s infusion of the sedan with many segment first and class-leading features, as the SmartPlay touchscreen infotainment system; and the safety features of dual airbags and ABS, both as standard, even in its base trims.
Maruti Suzuki’s Unique SHVS (Hybrid Technology)
Under the hood of the Ciaz is the 1,373 cc, 1.3-liter, petrol engine and the 1,248 cc, 1.2-liter, diesel engine with SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki Technology). The petrol engine churns out 91 hp of power at 6000 rpm and 130 Nm of torque at 4000 rpm, while the diesel engine delivers 89 hp of power at 4000 rpm and 200 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm.
Is Ciaz the Most Fuel Efficient Sedan in India?
The fuel efficiency is 20.73 kmpl, in the manual transmission trim and 19.12 kmpl, in the automatic transmission variant, for both the petrol engines. On the other hand, the Ciaz diesel version is considered the most fuel-efficient in India, delivering 28.9 km/l. Maruti Suzuki offers the Ciaz with both manual and automatic transmission options in the petrol variant only, while the diesel variant comes only with a manual gearbox.
Thanking customers for their patronage of the Ciaz, RS Kalsi, Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki, said, “Ciaz is tastefully designed borrowing cues from European styling that is clean, elegant and clutter-free. It carries a very distinct style. On the inside it comes with some great features and a class leading infotainment system. The vehicle’s ride quality and comfort is superior. Use of technological innovations like SHVS has made it even more attractive.”
He added, “Today, Ciaz is the largest selling sedan in the A3+ segment. It has enabled us to achieve a market share of 40% in the premium sedan segment. Success of Ciaz is very encouraging as it demonstrates customers’ confidence in Maruti Suzuki and reinforces our commitment to offer premium products in the upper segments.”
The Ciaz commands a wide international market in South America, Central America, Middle East, ASEAN, SAARC and Africa, where the total exports amounted to more than 18,000 units.