The Indian market, at the moment, is for the first time seeing more competition in the compact sedan segment than the hatchback segment. Honda Amaze, Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire and Hyundai Xcent are the frontrunners in the race with the first two fairly ahead of the third. The competition between Amaze and Swift DZire is quite intense and both firms keep making small moves to surge ahead and attract more customers. Only recently, both Honda Amaze and Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire got fresh upgrades.
Maruti Suzuki, a few days back, introduced a facelift version of the Swift DZire at a starting price of INR 5.07 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The 2015 model of Swift DZire boasts of a single chrome-slat grille, redone bumpers, fog lamps and new alloy wheels. A major addition to this compact sedan given in the upgrade was the start-stop engine button, which is Maruti Suzuki’s attempt to compete with other brands in terms of features. Other features that form the upgrade include electrically adjustable mirrors, new music system, reverse parking sensors and power socket at the rear. And even after all these upgrades, the company provided the icing on the cake by adding to its fuel efficiency. Facelift version of Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire is capable of delivering a mileage of 26.59 kmpl (diesel) and 20.85 kmpl (petrol).
R.S. Kalsi, Executive Director Marketing & Sales at Maruti Suzuki India, spoke about the upgrade and said, "While the compact combustion chamber and higher compression ratio on gasoline engine helps to improve engine efficiency, the advanced thermal management system in diesel engine along with low friction engine oil and modified fuel injection system help diesel engine in faster warm up and lower frictional losses."
Interestingly, Honda went the other way in giving an upgrade to the Amaze compact sedan by introducing a CNG compatibility version. Anyone can gauge the fact that this is an attempt to widen its market and eat into Maruti Suzuki’s customers who drive CNG-powered cars. Known as the 1.2 S MT Plus, the new version of Honda Amaze was introduced at a price of INR 5.99 lakh (Ex-showroom Delhi). The additions made by the Japanese car maker in this sedan include optimised suspension to take CNG load and wiring harnesses for better handling.
Jnaneswar Sen, Senior Vice President for Marketing and Sales at Honda Cars India, speaking on the upgrade, said, “At HCIL, we constantly work towards enhancing customer experience through our products and services. We are extremely happy to bring the Amaze with a CNG option for our customers, which will not only be cheaper to run and maintain but also eco-friendly.”
