Future YES!!
Maruti Suzuki unveil their designed-in-India Concept Future S study at the Auto Expo
INDIA’S LARGEST CAR manufacturer took the wraps off their all-new compact car design language in the form of the Concept Future S at the Auto Expo. The concept has been completely designed in-house by Maruti Suzuki and shows the SUV-inspired design direction the company plans to take in the future. The idea is to create a market positioning that is beyond mere conventional proportions.
The Concept Future S is uniquely styled and fuses the size of a compact car with the butch looks of an SUV. The company says managing SUV-like design cues in compact proportions was a major task for the designers. But they have successfully achieved it. The sleek lamps enclosed in the hood give the vehicle an imposing character. On the inside, ivory white has been used extensively along with orange with the main focus being on the central infotainment cluster.
R S Kalsi, senior executive director of marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki India Limited gave us further insight into the thought and the process behind creating the Concept Future S.
“We get inspired by changing tastes of the youth, if the trends are to be believed, they want more SUVish vehicles and considering the success of the Vitara Brezza, moving forward we thought that in a sub-compact format, less than four metres, we would like to pack as much as possible in terms of futuristic styling, in terms of futuristic body design and interiors. Based on that direction, we have worked on this model.
It is for the first time that anybody has attempted this type of path breaking, unconventional concept vehicle. It has a good ground clearance like an SUV, elevated seat height and also the instrument panel, the instrumental cluster, they are totally different from the conventional cars. The colour scheme, design of headlamps, the flow lines of the A-pillar, everything is unconventional and would set the future trends,” he told us at the Expo.
While this is only a design study at the moment, Kalsi made it clear that a production car can't be ruled out even though it will take time. “We will do a lot of market research and after that we will start with the refinement on this and then start working on the actual model. It will take some time,” he said. As far as powertrain options go, that would depend on government policies in the coming years.
The customer is changing and looking for something very different