Maruti Suzuki has unveiled their Ertiga MPV for the Indian masses. It is the first compact MPV in it's segment and will go on sale in April 2012. It is a 7-seater, and is 4265mm long, 1695mm wide and has a height of 1685mm. The Ertiga's wheelbase is 2740 mm, 10mm short of the Innova and the car on display was shod with 15' alloys.
Powering the Ertiga is a K14 VVT 1.4-litre petrol motor. Yes, it's an all-new K-Series engine from Maruti and it produces 94 bhp@6000 rpm and 13.2 kgm@4000 rpm. Maruti Suzuki has stated an ARAI certified 16.02 kpl fuel efficiency figure for the petrol. The Ertiga will, importantly, also be available with a 1.3 DDiS Super Turbo diesel engine (same as on the SX4) which produces 88 bhp@4000 rpm and 20.4 kgm@1750 rpm. The diesel boasts of an ARAI certified 20.77 kpl fuel efficiency figure.
On the inside, the Ertiga has a three-spoke, tilt adjustable electric power steering, twin air-con, USB compatible audio unit, steering mounted audio controls, keyless entry and central locking. In addition to that, it has a Multi-information Display (MID), power windows with auto-down function and electrically adjustable ORVMs. The variant on display was the ZDI, so the features may vary. The dashboard is a clear adaptation of the one on the current Swift. Boot space varies between 135 to 735 litres depending on whether the last rows of seats are folded down or not. The last row of seats are accessible through a folding middle row although it is best left to kids or luggage.
The Ertiga sports a McPherson strut suspension at the front and is based on the Swift platform - not the SX4 as was being speculated. Maruti Suzuki has added that an automatic transmission variant is certainly not on the cards, thus continuing a yawning gap between market expectations and feasibility. Expect the usual Lxi/Vxi/Zxi and Ldi/Vdi/Zdi levels of variants to be offered on the Ertiga. We'll keep you posted!
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