Maruti’s new design language aims for a SUV imprint on compact cars
MUMBAI/NEWDELHI: High seats, flattish hood and a bold stance — Features you typically associate with an SUV are coming soon to a Maruti compact near you, as India’s largest carmaker looks to lure Indians charmed by such looks over the past decade.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd Monday said its first SUV-like small car sporting a new design language called #ConceptFutureS will be showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo in February. Swift, one of Maruti’s biggest-selling cars, was based on the original ‘Concept S’, unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo of 2004.
A company statement accompanied by a shadowy outline sketch of its new car said the #ConceptFutureS design comes with an upright stance, higher seating and ground clearance and a horizontal hood, giving it an aggressive posture — Coincidentally, features seen in many popular compact SUVs such as Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport and Hyundai Creta.
CV Raman, senior executive director (engineering) at Maruti Suzuki admitted the “increasing preference” for utility vehicles and their bold architecture had inspired the firm’s design team to think about a new character for compact cars. “ConceptFutureS could mark a distinc- tive shift in how compact cars are designed in India in the future.”
The fresh design can also be seen in the context of the need for many car models to be re-engineered once new regulations on safety and emissions take effect. These would require structural changes including use of more steel to allow vehicles to meet new crash-test norms, adding airbags and anti-lock braking systems, and installing diesel particulate filters and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies to help diesel cars meet the Bharat Stage VI emission norms.
Still, Maruti was not here first — Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd already makes smaller vehicles such as KUV 100 sporting an SUV DNA, though it doesn’t call them cars.
Samit Sinha, founder and managing partner, at Alchemist Brand Consulting Pvt Ltd pointed to Marlboro’s “light” cigarettes and Coca Cola’s “zero” to explain why every brand has to change its equity with the change in customer demand and psyche.
“With this new concept design, Maruti Suzuki has also tried to do the same thing. In the recent past, companies like Porsche, Lamborghini and Jaguar have come up with their version of SUVs. It’s a global trend and Maruti Suzuki has also done the same thing,” Sinha said.