2010 Maruti WagonR spy pictures!

With competition from Hyundai’s i10 and the much cuter (and cheaper) Spark, Maruti’s highly successful WagonR started to feel the heat. From the recent statistics, i10 overtook WagonR to take the tag of India’s 2nd best selling car behind the Alto. To fight back, Maruti should have brought the all new sharply restyled WagonR from Japan but what we have spied on is a facelifted model. Disappointed? Yeah.

You see, the WagonR is an old shape and is a box on wheels but it is not to be blamed. The Kei car restrictions that are imposed in Japan meant flat sides to make maximum use of available space. Even then Suzuki showed the way ahead with its sharper and shark like WagonR which presently sells in Japan. We sadly don’t get that model. Why is it?

With respect to styling, the facelifted model sports mildly restyled front end with swept back headlamps with circular indicator pods (that look cool). Nothing much is visible from the spy pictures. Rear styling is largely the same with nothing special. We suspect similar treatment to the interiors with dual tone upholsery and some parts borrowed from the Swift.

Most important of all will be the introduction of the 3 pot 1.0L K-series engine that does duty in the A-Star and Estilo. Mated to a overhauled transmission, performance and fuel economy will move one notch higher and that is good news (why not a 660cc turbo from the Japanese model?). Thus the WagonR will be fully compliant to the Bharat Stage-4 norms coming up in April 2010.

Now the big question – Why only the facelifted model? We suspect that Maruti thinks that there is still some more to be extracted from this WagonR before they replace it. In such a case, we might get the all new model for another couple of years. This means that Maruti is risking its position in the Indian market which is constantly being bombarded with latest generation hatchbacks – Polo, Micra, Toyota and Honda etc. If Maruti has any intention of maintaining its superiority, its products should speak for themselves hereafter.

We will be covering the Auto Expo and stay tuned for pictures and special reports.

Pictures courtesy Autocar India Forums