Preview: Suzuki to enter premium sub-compact crossover segment with the Ignis in India
Suzuki will soon be bringing its crossover-styled hatchback, the Ignis to India. The Ignis was one of the popular names in the rallying circuit and was one of the first vehicles to fit in the crossover tag. The new generation Ignis was first showcased at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show in 2015 followed by its Indian debut at the 2016 Auto Expo.
Considering the popularity of the compact SUVs in the country, the launch of Suzuki Ignis will also benefit from this trend. This sub-compact crossover will mainly compete with the Mahindra KUV100 as this space still doesn't have many offerings. Based on the iM-4 concept and built on an all-new platform, the Ignis will be one of the premium offerings from Maruti Suzuki and will be retailed through the Nexa dealerships in the country
The Ignis will be positioned below the Vitara Brezza in the brand's crossover line-up. It will arrive in the Indian showrooms by early next year and is expected to be priced between Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh in India
Design
The new Suzuki Ignis is based on an all-new lightweight platform that will also form the basis of future products and claims to be stiffer by 30 per cent and lighter by 15 per cent.
The production version of the Suzuki Ignis looks closely inspired from the iM-4 concept showcased at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The Ignis fits between the Renault Kwid and the Ford EcoSport. Instead of the fluidic lines seen on the Maruti Suzuki Baleno, the Suzuki Ignis gets a boxy design. The front looks unique with the matte black radiator grille enveloping the squarish headlights. The display car at both the motor shows had projector lights along with U-shaped LED DRLs. There is also generous use of chrome on the grille as well as on the fog lamp.
The side profile of the Suzuki Ignis gets blackened A- and B-pillars with a smart window profile, contrasting bright roof rails and chrome door handles which we believe will be in the feature list of the top end variants. In addition, the Suzuki Ignis also gets flared wheel arches along with a raised ground clearance of 180mm. The display car had 17-inch wheels with 175 section tyres.
The rear of the Suzuki Ignis gets a compact looking tail gate with LED lights. The bumper gets matte black inserts which gives the Ignis the necessary crossover character.
Dimensionally, the Suzuki Ignis measures 3,700mm in length, 1,660mm in width and 1,595 mm in height. It has a wheelbase of 2,435mm and gets a reasonable bootspace of 258 litres that can be increased to 415 litres with the rear seats folded down
Interior, features and options
The Suzuki Ignis, though will be positioned in the same price as the present generation Maruti Suzuki Swift, will get plush quality of interiors. The dashboard layout inside the Ignis gets a similar boxy theme as the exteriors. The concept shown at the expo came equipped with a floating seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system along with climate control, which we believe will be one of the features in the top end variant. In addition, it is also expected to get a premium music system with Bluetooth and USB compatibility.
From the model at the Auto Expo, it seemed that the cabin offers generous headroom and legroom as well, something which we will verify in our review. In terms of practicality, the Ignis will gets loads of storage spaces along with a generous boot area which has minimum intrusion of the rear suspension.
The international-spec model offers hill descent control, lane management system, 4-Wheel drive system (4WD) and the new adaptive dual camera braking system (DCBS) which uses three cameras in front, side and rear. In addition, it will also come with park assist
The top-end variant will get dual-airbags and ABS with EBD as standard. With the present theme of things around safety, we believe Maruti Suzuki might offer a driver side airbag as standard across all variants in India.
Engine
The engine options in the India-bound Suzuki Ignis include the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel motor that is also seen in the Maruti Suzuki Swift. The state of tune of this motor might not be identical to that of Swift. The Ignis that will arrive in global markets will be equipped with a 1.25-litre Dualjet petrol engine that makes 91PS of power. The Ignis might also be offered with the SHVS hybrid. The other motor that is expected to launch with the Ignis is a 1.0-litre Boosterjet that makes 110PS at 5,500rpm and 170Nm of torque between 2,000rpm 3,500rpm
While 2WD will be offered as standard, Maruti Suzuki might surprise the competition and launch the AllGrip four-wheel drive variants too.
Price
The Ignis will be manufactured at the company's Sanand plant in Gujarat which is expected to start operations in 2017 with an initial capacity of 2.5 lakh units. The same plant will also see production of the new-generation Swift and Baleno as well. Suzuki will make the Sanand plant as its global production hub for the Ignis and might also look at exporting it from India
In India, the Suzuki Ignis will compete with the Mahindra KUV100 (Rs 4.5 lakh to Ts 7 lakh) only. We expect Suzuki to price the Ignis between Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. Stay tuned to OVERDRIVE for all the latest updates on the upcoming Suzuki Ignis.
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