Small change

I have been driving a Maruti Suzuki Alto LX for the last five years. Now I am in the mood to change my car. I am looking for one which is bigger than the Alto and my budget is Rs 4 lakh. Which car would you recommend?

Sandeep Shrivastava, via email

Since you have spent five years with a Maruti Suzuki product and assuming you have had no issues with it, why not try out the new Ritz. It’s bigger and comfier than the Alto, has a peppy, refined and efficient petrol engine that’s good for city as well as highway driving and also has good on-road manners. For your budget, the Ritz LXi will suit you fine.

Diesel expectation

Any news of the Toyota Corolla diesel launch in India? It was expected in June 2009.

J M Khanna, via email

The Corolla diesel is expected, but not before the festive season this year. Toyota Kirloskar may shoehorn a new D-4D diesel engine with about 90 bhp in the Corolla. They might price the car at a slight premium over its petrol sibling when it does arrive.

Good Fortuner

I am planning to buy an SUV. It must seat seven persons comfortably and have good off-road capability. I am considering the Chevrolet Captiva, but is it worth waiting for the Toyota Fortuner? When will the Toyota SUV be launched and what is its price range expected to be?

Madhubalan, via email

The Captiva is a pretty good seven-seater SUV right now, and even though it's available in both manual front-wheel drive and automatic 4x4 variants, it isn’t as capable off-road. For that, the Fortuner might be a better bet. It’s also a seven-seater with lots of kit and with somewhat better off-road ability. It’s expected sometime in September and will wear a price-tag of Rs 20 lakh. So if you can wait for a while, we suggest you look at the Fortuner.

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