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The country’s largest passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Thursday launched the all-new Alto K10 priced between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5.83 lakh (ex-showroom).
Launched in September 2000, the Alto brand has been the first family car for many households , and has outlasted several competitors, including the Hyundai Eon, Honda Brio, Datsun RediGo and the Chevrolet Beat (company stopped operations in India). Currently, thel Renault Kwid is its only rival in the small car segment.
“Close to half of all passenger vehicle customers are first-time buyers. While SUVs have definitely gained popularity in recent times, a large section still prefer hatchbacks. In the last fiscal, the Indian passenger vehicle industry sold over 11.5 lakh hatchbacks. Of that we accounted for over 68 per cent market share. As a market leader, we need to keep the hatchback segment energised with exciting products,” said Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, MSIL, at the launch.
The all-new Alto K10 is a result of the company’s efforts to bring a value-packed small car for today’s young and progressive Indian customers, he said.
“.Brand Alto was the number one selling car for 16 consecutive years till 2020. Even in the last fiscal, Alto was the fourth best-selling model. By July 2022, Alto had over 43.3 lakh happy customers in India,” Takeuchi added.
Of the 43.3 lakh Altos sold (both 800 and K10) so far, the K10 accounted for 8.78 lakh units.
According to the company, it is receiving bookings for at least 200 units of the new Alto daily and more of the top variants -- the VXi and the VXi+.
The new K10 is available in both the five-speed manual and automatic gear shift (AGS) transmission options. Powered by the next-gen K-Series 1.0L dual jet, dual VVT engine, the all-new Alto K10 delivers 49kW (66.62PS)@5500rpm of peak power and 89Nm@3500rpm of max torque, the company said.
The peppy, lively and efficient K-series 1.0L engine would provide fuel-efficiency of 24.90 km/l (AGS) and 24.39 km/l (MT), the company added.
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Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) MD & CEO Hisashi Takeuchi with Senior Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, Shashank Srivastava (R) and Chief Technical Officer CV Raman (L) at the launch of the new Alto K10, in New Delhi, Thursday, Aug 18, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI
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