Maruti

is preparing to bring in a new variant of its flagship model; Alto in the Indian car market. The revamped model will be compliant with BS IV norms in India which become effective from 2010.

Suzuki MD & CEO S. Nakanishi said “We have exhausted our quota of new cars with eight new launches in India in the past three years. Now we are looking at strengthening our leadership by refreshing our old portfolio”.

Maruti has engineered new KB series engine that will be strapped to all the new and upcoming cars from Maruti. The company is rumored to use a tuned down engine from A-Star for the new Alto variant.

This is done in a bid to keep the costs under check and compete with Hyundai Santro and Chevrolet Spark in its segment.

Maruti is contemplating a facelift for all its models in India and make it compliant to the relevant BS standards. It has recently launched its latest model Ritz in India which has been well received by the customers.