You are a working professional in your 20s or 30s and are looking ahead to buy a car for yourself – an affordable yet a comfortable one. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s latest introduction ‘Ignis’ is meant to provide a solution for you.
“This car is for the millennials,” said Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki, while announcing the launch of this car this past week. The millennials as they call it are the young people who are in tune with time. They use smartphones and iPads, lead a comfortable life and are conscious of their style and glamour.
“NEXA, our premium automotive retail channel, is now offering IgnisIt combines unconventional design, seamless smartphone connectivity with an option of auto gear shift in both petrol and diesel and advanced safety features. Ignis will help us expand our presence in the premium compact segment,” said Ayukawa before announcing the prices of the car. Starting from ₹4.59 lakh, the different trims and variants of petrol engine – six in number – go up to ₹6.30 lakh, while the diesel engine variants – five in number – start from ₹6.39 lakh and go up to ₹7.46 lakh at ex-showroom Delhi. “Well, the millennials love to be distinct. They want something unique. Something that is personalised for them. With Ignis we provide personalisation opportunities with unique roof wraps, colour options in ORVM’s spoilers, fog lamps garnish and interior styling.”
We went to Chennai to bring to you the first drive experience of Ignis and here is what we got. The car with its unconventional design and size does look unique.
It comes with the 1.2L VVT petrol engine that gets you 113Nm of torque, while the 1.3L diesel engine gets you a torque of 190Nm. These engines even though with different tuning here, were previously seen in Swift and other cars from the maker. However, Ignis is built on a completely new modular platform. It comes with some cool colour options in single tone and double tone in order to make it look funky, unique, trendy and stylish.
MSIL is promoting this with the tagline “None of a kind” . Well if NVH levels are to go by then certainly it is none of a kind. The cabin is silent and I couldn't feel any vibrations. I put the ignition on and took the car to Mamallapuram on the way to Puducherry. And I enjoyed driving both the petrol and diesel variants of manual transmission. The gear shifts were smooth with linear acceleration. It had enough power even at low-end RPM’s however it wouldn't not really push you to the back of your seats with its acceleration. The automatic transmission also worked fine and didn't let me feel the lag and drag. But, it was the manual one which was more enjoyable to drive. The kerb weight of the car is on the lighter side for your benefit in the daily commutes but you do miss some bulkiness while braking at high speeds. The space in the rear is slightly better when compared with Wagon R. And the floor panel is on the flatter side too. Though I feel the maker would do well to make the seating position slightly less upright in the rear, the central console, the door grabs, the dashboard, and the use of plastics in the interior are all to be appreciated.
On the outside, the single frame grille design at the front has inset LED projector headlamps and daytime running lights which give it a youthful expression. There is for the first time from MSIL the use of 5-spoke full black alloy wheels that add to the look of the car. Overall this one has a different look and feel to it. The design, the interiors and the verve are unique enough to make it noticeable.
Well, there is 260 litres of space in the boot. There is a claimed fuel efficiency of 20.89 km/l of the petrol engine and 26.80 km/l of the diesel engine. And then there is a promise of comfort, style and practicality. To conclude, Ignis is targeting the young and is designed accordingly. It is practical and easy to control for your city drives.
