Maruti Suzuki said it has now sold one lakh Celerios – increasingly its mainstay model.
Launched at Delhi Auto Expo 2014, Celerio is credited with introducing Auto Gear Shift Technology in the Indian automobile industry. Celerio is one of Maruti Suzuki’s top selling models and among the top 10 selling cars in India.
The car is increasingly becoming the ‘bread and butter’ model of the company after Alto suffered a facelift that many users did not find attractive. Besides, the Indian market has seen an increasing preference for bigger cars, and Celerio fits the bill by being bigger than a small car like Alto, without being too space consuming or costly.
“Within a year of its launch Maruti Suzuki’s share in the lower hatchback has shot up to 71% from 61%,” said RS Kalsi, Executive Director, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited.
In June, for example, sales of Alto and WagonR fell 28% to 34,336. On the other hand, sales in the category that includes Celerio and Swift saw a 24% jump to 45,701 units in June.
“By offering the convenience of automatic transmission at an affordable cost and with fuel efficiency at par with manual transmission, Celerio has delighted customers by fulfilling a latent need,” Maruti Suzuki said.
Sensing the customer need, Maruti Suzuki introduced the Celerio Diesel in June 2015.
Celebrating the landmark, Kalsi added: “Celerio is the first car in India to introduce the acclaimed Auto Gear Shift technology and almost one third of the sales are of the Auto Gear Shift variants. Customers appreciated the convenience of automatic gear shifting with no loss in fuel efficiency on Celerio.”
Celerio is the only car to be available in petrol, CNG and diesel fuel options and offer two transmission options (Manual and Auto Gear Shift).
The Celerio Diesel is India’s most fuel efficient car and promises EZ Performance with a high torque per cc.
The model’s petrol version features a K-Next petrol engine with Drive-by-Wire.
Other features of the car include — a roomy cabin, relatively generous headroom, legroom and shoulder-room, largish boot space and 15 “utility spaces”.