Maruti Suzuki Ciaz Beats Honda City

Maruti Suzuki India, that has never been able do well in the premium segments, seems to have finally found a flag-bearer in the form of Ciaz. Launched in October 2014, the Ciaz has received a tremendous response in the Indian market. The company claims to have sold 6,345 units in October, outselling the segment leader - Honda City; the car also received over 17,000 pre-bookings. However, it is still early to say if the car will continue outselling others in the league, since it's just a month old vehicle and Honda has been facing some production issues for the past few months.

Two factors that seem to have worked in favour of Maruti Ciaz are - its competitive pricing and fuel efficiency. With a price range of Rs 6.99 lakh - Rs 9.80 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), the Ciaz is one of the most affordable mid-sized sedans in India today. Also at 26.21Km/l, the Ciaz is the most fuel-efficient car in the country. In fact, the petrol model too returns the best-in-class fuel economy of 20.7Km/l. That said, the Ciaz is one of the least powerful cars in its league.

Powering the Ciaz petrol is a 1.4-litre K Series engine that produces a peak power of 91bhp with 130Nm of torque. On the other hand, the diesel variant derives power from the Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre MultiJet engine that makes a maximum power of 89bhp and 200Nm of torque. Both the powertrains are mated to a 5-speed manual transmission as standard though a 4-speed automatic transmission is also on offer on the car's petrol variant.