All-new Maruti Suzuki WagonR launched. Brand new alternative to the Santro?

The WagonR, one of Maruti Suzuki’s most iconic and popular hatchbacks, has been launched in an all-new avatar. The 2019 WagonR has been launched in India at Rs 4.19 lakh ex-showroom, Delhi. This is the price of the base Lxi petrol manual variant. Pre-bookings had already started on January 14 at Rs 11,000 across the country.

New Maruti Suzuki WagonR is based on the Heartect platform

The third-gen Maruti Suzuki WagonR gets the latest generation Heartect platform that also underpins the Swift and Baleno. Maruti Suzuki says that the platform increases the safety of occupants through effective absorption of impact and dispersion of crash energy and assures stability. The company says that they have also used 40% high tensile steel to provide better strength, safety, rigidity and NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) performance.

The ‘tallboy’ – Maruti Suzuki WagonR

Maruti Suzuki had kept no secret of the car’s design and the images of the new WagonR were circulating on the internet since quite a few weeks now. The boxy tall boy design is retained, albeit with refreshed styling. It now sports a floating style roof, the headlamp design is new and the indicators are now mounted on the wing mirrors. On the inside, the AC vents are redesigned and there are minimal buttons on the dash thanks to an all-new touch screen infotainment system. You also get steering mounted controls. Maruti Suzuki says that the car has a spacious cabin, with best in class boot space. The front seats get integrated headrests. Standard safety features in the car include dual airbags, ABS, EBD and rear parking sensors. Click here to see the video clip of the car and its interiors.

Powering the Maruti Suzuki WagonR

The new WagonR is available with a choice of two engines- the 1-litre 3-cylinder petrol motor that churns 67bhp and 90Nm of torque and the peppier K-series 1.2-litre 4-cylinder engine that makes 82bhp and 113Nm of torque. That latter also does duty in the Ignis, Swift, Dzire and Baleno. The 1.0-litre engine is available in Lxi and Vxi trims, while the 1.2-litre unit is available in Lxi, Vxi and Zxi trims. Transmission options include a 5-speed manual and AMT. The AMT is available in the Vxi and Zxi trims only.

On the occasion of the all-new WagonR’s launch, Kenichi Ayukawa, MD and CEO, Maruti Suzuki quoted “We are delighted to present the latest generation of one of our most successful models – Over the years WagonR has become the choice of more than 2.2 million families. We are confident that the new WagonR with its all new robust design, dynamically crafted and spacious interiors, SmartPlay Studio, strong HEARTECT Platform and Auto Gear Shift (AGS) technology will become the choice of many more Indian families.”

Maruti Suzuki first launched the WagonR back in 1999 and for twenty years of its existence, it has been among the top ten selling cars in the country. It directly competes with the recently launched Hyundai Santro, Hyundai Grand i10, Renault Kwid, Tata Tiago, and also its own sibling, the Celerio. The similarly specced Hyundai Santro in its Era trim costs Rs 4.24 lakh ex-showroom, India which means the WagonR Lxi in the manual trim undercuts the Santro by about Rs 5000.

Here’s the variant wise pricing of the new WagonR

Test Drive review of the all-new Maruti Suzuki Ertiga in this link