India-bound Suzuki Ciaz facelift spotted in China
Maruti Suzuki has been selling the Ciaz in India from 2014. The sedan has showcased that Maruti does have it in them to sell cars which cost above Rs 10 lakh. However, off late, sales of the sedan have slowed a bit primarily because of the lack of updates from the last three years. It now looks like this will change soon.
Leaked pictures of the facelifted Suzuki Alivio, which is essentially the Chinese model of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, have been making rounds on the internet. Considering that the Ciaz is due for a facelift early next year, there is a strong chance that the same changes will be carried over to the Indian version.
The most prominent change is the merger of the air-dam and grill. The new one-piece grill includes the air-dam and runs low till the lower edge of the bumper. The fog lamp housings are longer and extend towards the each other, diminishing into a thin black lip that run across the centre, just under the grill. There are two black slats above the fog-lamps, which suggest inclusion of DRLs on higher spec models. In addition to these, the projector lamps are expected to get LED treatment along with addition of rain sensing function to the wipers.
The tail-lamps appear to have larger illuminating area for the stop lamps. This comes at the cost of reduction in the area of the reverse lamp and turn signals. The bumper loses the black pockets on either ends for a cleaner design. The lower edge is split into another black cladding-like design, which might prevent scraping in a better manner. The interior is believed to get new instrument cluster with the addition of a MID akin to the one found in the Baleno.
On the engine front, Suzuki might add its new 1.5-litre diesel motor under the Ciaz's bay while the 1.4-litre petrol will continue to do duty. When launched, the Ciaz facelift will go against the likes of Honda City, VW Vento, Skoda Rapid and the upcoming Hyundai Verna, all of whom have already received their due updates. It will retail out of the Nexa showrooms.
Image source: Autohome