Maruti to launch MPV Ertiga by March

The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India today said it is set to launch multi-purpose vehicle Ertiga by end of March this year.

The new seven seater compact MPV was unveiled at the 11th Auto Expo.

"We would like to start the sale of this car as quick as possible. But possibly, the commercial roll-out would begin by end of March or beginning of April this year," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO, Shinzo Nakanishi told reporters.

Without specifying the price of the new car, the company said," it will be attractively priced."

The company would manufacture the new car at the its plant in Gurgaon.

With Ertiga, Maruti Suzuki will step into the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment and effectively create a new compact MPV segment in India.

According to an estimates provided by the company, the utility vehicle segments accounts for around 14 per cent of the Indian automobile industry and 66% of these are MPV.

With new this car, the company will for the first time introduce K-14 VVT 1.4 litre engine in India. The car will also be launched in diesel variant.

The company claims that fuel efficiency of the diesel variant(1.3 litre DDiS Super Turbo) with a fuel efficiency of 20.77 kmpl.