Country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has been a dominant player in the hatch segment for a very long time. Amongst many other cars that have contributed to this success is the humble Celerio which has been around for a few years. Now the company has gone ahead and launched a brand-new generation of the car in the market, one that apart from new design and features also gets a new engine as well as platform. And yes, in the times of high petrol prices, Maruti says the new Celerio is the most fuel-efficient car in India.
DESIGN
The new Celerio comes with a 3D organic sculpted design which has ensured an altogether new face on the car. It gets animated sweeping front headlamps, droplet-styled tail lamps and all-new radiant signature front grille with chrome and these contribute to a more contemporary look. The top variant also gets 15” Urbane black alloy wheels and front fog lamps. And you also get electrically adjustable side view mirrors and an oddly placed but practical keyless entry switch. The car is available in 6 colours including two new options – solid fire red and speedy blue along with arctic white, silky silver, glistening grey, and caffeine brown.
INTERIORS
The Celerio has now grown in size which means it is more spacious with bigger cabin space, increased wheelbase, extended shoulder room, larger legroom, and enhanced luggage space. The AC vents get chrome accents while the side air vents get a bold barrel theme which look nice. The gear shift lever is new and comes with ergonomic grip in AGS variants. The 7-inch Smart Play studio infotainment system with smartphone navigation now finds a place in the Celerio. It is also compatible with Apple carplay and Android auto. New features like first in segment engine push button start and pollen type AC filter have also been introduced on the car. The steering can be tilted for adjustment and gets mounted audio controls. Second row is decent on space and the seat gets a 60:40 split format. The new Celerio gets an impressive boot space of 313 litres which is 40 % more than earlier and a lot better that its rivals and even the Swift!
ENGINE
The new Celerio gets the next generation K-Series engine with Dual Jet, Dual VVT which according to Maruti makes it the most fuel-efficient petrol car in India. The cars offers a mileage of 26.68kmpl on the VXi AGS variant but all other variants too will deliver in the range of 25 kmpl. A segment-first feature like Idle Start-Stop also contributes to getting better efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions by up to 19% across variants.
The engine is mated to either a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed Auto gear shift system. It makes 66 bhp @ 6000 rpm and around 89Nm@3500rpm which make it a nimble, agile car to drive. It’s a got a light clutch and a smooth gearbox which help in ensuring an easier ride. A big highlight on the new Celerio is its ride quality. The suspension is tuned well to take on the challenges of Indian roads and most bumps are taken care of well during the drive.
SAFETY
The new Celerio is built on Suzuki’s signature HEARTECT platform which means it gets a smooth structure for effective absorption and dispersion of impact force. The platform, according to Maruti, improves the crash, rigidity, and overall strength of the car. It sees an extensive use of high tensile steel and gets more than 12 safety features like dual airbags and ABS with EBD. It also offers a first-in-segment hill hold assist function with AGS and complies with all Indian safety regulations like frontal-offset, side crash, and pedestrian protection.
PRICES
The 2021 Celerio has come in 7 variants in all – 4 of which are manual and remaining Automatic. The manual range starts at Rs. 4.99 lakh (ex-showroom) and goes up to Rs. 6.44 lakh. The AGS is priced between Rs. 6.13 lakh and Rs. 6.94 lakh. Looking at the features and upgrades it offers the car feels like a value for money offering when compared to its rivals. The impressive mileage figure is a huge bonus and there is always the Maruti trust factor to bank upon.
The writer is Senior Editor at carandbike.com