Suzuki is planning to produce its next world car based on the A-Star concept at Gurgaon, near Delhi, by the end of 2008, according to remarks made by Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India (MSI).
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Suzuki is also planning to export some 100,000 units annually, including substantial shipments to Europe.
According to the Economic Times newspaper, MSI is replacing the engines of its existing small cars with a new series of next generation engines.
The upcoming A-Star world car model will have a new 1- litre ‘K-series’ Euro V engine and the other existing small cars—Zen Estilo, Swift and WagonR—will be strapped with different sizes of the same series (up to 1.3-litre) in the next few years, the paper said. Their current F and G series Euro III engines will be phased out subsequently by 2010.
MSI managing director S Nakanishi told the Economic Times: “Our new cars will have next generation engines. Manufacturing will commence later this year in Manesar . The engines have been developed keeping in mind the developed markets of Europe and the US. So, we will target the export market in a big way while the same engines would be strapped for domestic cars as well.”
According to sources in the automobile industry, Maruti will launch the next generation engine project with the debut of A-Star in October, which will be followed by the other soon-to-be-launched hatchback , Splash. The K-series engine will be pitted against Hyundai i10 ‘s 1.1-litre, iRDE engine and the Chevrolet Spark’s 1-litre 4-cylinder SOHC engine.
“The [new] engines are expected to deliver highest fuel efficiency and excellent environment protection. The state of the art engine in A-Star will have the lowest carbon emissions in India. These engines will meet all emission norms for the next decade,” Mr Nakanishi told the newspaper.
