The most awaited car of the year Maruti Suzuki Ritz has finally launched. Ritz is the eight small car production for the Maruti Suzuki stable. Ritz has arrived in style and has set the heartbeats of car buyer beating fast. The car has also created hope for the India's largest car manufacturer to revive profit margins, that went plummeting down after the global meltdown and tightening finances.

Maruti Suzuki hopes are pinned on Ritz and is expected to imitate the success story of Swift hatchback. The Swift has sold 3 million units in less than five years. It may help strengthen Maruti Suzuki's position in the Indian car market. Ritz is also known as Splash in Japan.

It is the first car complying with the BS-IV emission norms, ahead of the regulation coming into effect from 2010. Maruti Suzuki has carefully positioned Ritz in the Rs 3.90 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for the high end model. This price bracket generates the highest volume of sales in India. Apart form M800 which is below Rs 2 lakh, most small cars like Hyundai i10, Chevrolet Spark and Hyundai Getz prime and Maruti Suzuki Alto are in this segment.

The Ritz is fifth global car by Suzuki and the first car created with Indian buyers in minds. A specially developed K12M engine has been extensively tested, calibrated and tuned specifically for Indian conditions. Even the 5-speed manual gearbox has been reworked to use gear ratio different from that of splash in order to match dirveability in Indian traffic conditions.

Unlike international markets where rear seats accommodate two adults, the Indian hatchbacks seat three adults, Taking a cue from it, Maruti Suzuki has reworked the rear seat to accommodate three adults with enough shoulder space. The same goes for the centre console which has been re-designed to easy entry/exit.

The hot hatch Ritz is available in five variants- three in petrol and two in diesel. The petrol variants are fitted with 84 bhp 1.2 litre 4 cylinder engine and the diesel variants come equipped with the 1.3 litre DDiS engine. The engines are teamed with the quick shifting 5-speed manual. It is the only small car after Skoda Fabia and Tata Indica Vista, to be available in both petrol and diesel variants at the time of its launch.

The attractive exterior styling is symbolized by four aspects – the piercing headlights, boomerang taillights, a short cut rear fascia and the glass heavy sides. Suzuki has given Ritz a heavy European styling, what is commonly known in Europe as mini wagon. This has been a deliberate attempt at drawing focus to style and capability of the Japanese small car. Some Indian styling like th RR foglamps and the reflectors on the rear bumper has been incorporated.

It is made available in five different variants three petrol and two diesel. The 3.7 metre long wheelbase on which it is built promises more airy space and enough headroom for tall adults.

A well designed interior is dominated by the dual- colour coded upholstery and plastics. The hard plastics suggest a good value for money. The high seating position gives the driver an all round visibility thereby improving safety. The 500 litres boos space can hold luggage for a small trip.

While all variants receive air conditioning and power steering, the high end ZXi boasts of sophisticated tilt adjustable steering wheel with mounted audio controls, integrated air bags, standard ABS with Electronic brakeforce distribution.

The difference between a fully loaded ZXi and the Swift top end is just 35,000, but offer s more features. Between Ritz and Swift, Maruti Suzuki is well positioned to eat into market share of premium small car too.

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