Maruti S-Cross bookings open at INR 31,000

Maruti S-Cross is nearing its much-anticipated India launch and sensing that the company dealers have started taking bookings for the crossover at a token amount of INR 31,000. The crossover has entered production at Maruti Suzuki’s Gurgaon manufacturing unit with the official launch slated to take place in July next month.

Recently, it was revealed that Maruti S-Cross would be the first vehicle in India to in-house Fiat’s 1.6-litre diesel engine.

Maruti S-Cross is based on the SX4 hatchback, which wasn’t on sale in India. It was firstly unveiled at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo in pre-production form, while the production-ready model was unveiled at the recently held IIFA Awards in Malaysia. The India-spec model of the crossover is quite different from its European avatar as the company has made significant changes in the exterior. Some of the prominent changes are increased ground clearance, full body plastic cladding, roof rails, dual-slat chrome grille, 16-inch alloy wheels and much more. The interior cabin resembles a lot to the Swift hatchback. Moreover, the all-black dashboard is sourced directly from the Swift in S-Cross.

Mechanically, it would come in both petrol and diesel guises. The diesel variants would be offered with two different engines. The entry-level and mid variants would be offered with Fiat’s 1.3-litre, 4-cylinder multi-jet engine which would generate a maximum power of 89bhp and peak torque of 200Nm.

The range-topping variants are expected to be equipped with Fiat’s bigger and more powerful 1.6-litre, 4-cylinder Multi-jet engine, which belts out 118bhp of top power and 320Nm of highest torque. As for petrol variants, they would be powered by company’s 1.

4-litre, 4-cylinder motor which already does duties to Ciaz and Ertiga. It is still not known that whether the S-Cross would be launched with an AWD variant or automatic variant in India. Maruti S-Cross would rival Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano and Hyundai Creta.