Next generation Maruti Suzuki Celerio spied

We’ve caught the new second-generation Maruti Suzuki Celerio on test! Here’s an understanding of what you can expect from it.

The Maruti Suzuki Celerio is the car that single-handedly changed the perception and affordability of automatic cars in India. It was the first passenger car to feature the Automated Manual Transmission or AMT at the time of its launch at the beginning of 2014. And right from the time of its launch, demand for the automatic Celerio has been hovering around the 40 per cent mark with the other 60 per cent being accounted for by the trusted manual transmission model. The huge acceptance of the AMT model was down to the fact that people could now have an automatic car at a premium of just Rs. 40,000 over the manual counterparts while the car also delivered identical fuel efficiency as the manual model.

Six years later, the Celerio continues to sell in good numbers on a month on month basis, but with competition from newer and more modern rivals, the prospective Celerio customers would definitely be tempted to look elsewhere.

Maruti Suzuki has been working on addressing this problem with the development of a second-generation model for a few years now and the car is now in its final testing stages before its market launch which is expected to be as early as late October.

So, let’s take a closer look at what we can make out about the new Celerio from the spy pictures we have here.

1. Bigger than earlier: The new Celerio certainly appears to have a significantly larger footprint than the current model which was fairly compact. The longer wheelbase will mean more cabin space too. The car appears to ride much higher as well, which will help spawn crossover styled variants such as the current model's Celerio X variant. 
2. New platform: The 2^nd gen Celerio is being built on Maruti Suzuki’s Heartect platform that underpins its new cars. New small cars to be underpinned by this platform include the S-Presso, WagonR, Swift and Baleno.
3. Same engine: The new Celerio will continue to be powered by the current model’s all-aluminium 1.0-litre, three cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine that’s good for 66bhp @ 6,000rpm and 90Nm @ 3,500rpm.
4. MT and AMT: The all-new Celerio will be offered with the choice of a five-speed manual gearbox as well as the five-speed AMT automatic, which are serving the entire range of Maruti Suzuki compact cars at the moment.
5. More comfortable than earlier: The 2020 Celerio will be more comfortable thanks to not just more cabin space but also a more upmarket cabin than earlier which should bring with it a better set of seats. The new car will also be more comfortable to travel in, thanks to its new suspension that will have far better-cushioning ability. The suspension setup will remain the same.
6. More equipment: While the next-gen Celerio will not feature segment-leading equipment, it will come with more modern features such as Suzuki’s SmartPlay Studio infotainment system, reverse camera, etc. 

Also read - Hyundai Santro vs Maruti Suzuki Celerio: Comparison

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