Maruti Suzuki Alto to get K10B engine?

Autocar India reports that India’s best selling model, the Maruti Alto is likely to get the K-Series (K10B to be specific) engine found on the A-Star, new WagonR and the Estilo. Over a decade old now, the new Alto, introduced in 2000 has not received any major updates to its engine till date. However, what induces doubts in our minds is the fact that the current Alto with the F8D engine is already Bharat Stage-4 compliant which questions if the Alto will receive the K10B at all. Maruti earlier announced that a stripped down Alto will eventually be launched to replace the 800.

Moreover, Maruti earlier announced that they are working on a new range of two cylinder petrol engines to power their entry level models from early 2011. This engine makes sense for the Alto. However, if the K10B does find its way into the Alto, then we can expect a mini hot-hatchback as the lightweight Alto will be the fastest (for a hatch) and probably India’s most fuel efficient petrol car. The record was recently stolen by Hyundai for the i10 Kappa that managed 19.8km/l while the A-Star manages 19.6km/l. The K-series engines currently make up 25% of Maruti’s engine capacity of 10,00,000.