Wagon R, the ideal city car by Maruti Suzuki has tasted success ever since its launch back in 2000. Prevailing across the country for about 14 years, Wagon R is still the choice of many and it can be seen in the fact that it has crossed sales figures of 15 lakh cars all over India till date. MSI managed to sale 156,300 units of the Wagon R in 2013-14 and for this year, the sales have gone even better with an excess sales of 93,000 units.
Since its launch, it has been selling like hot cakes as it is spacious, possesses excellent drivability and offers good mileage. Maruti Wagon R price starts at Rs 3.5 lacs making it a good first time buy. Available in multiple variants in petrol, LPG and CNG, the soon to be included diesel variant will add another feather to its cap.
Under the cover, the efficient Wagon R employs a 998cc K series petrol engine delivering a power output of 67.1bhp at 6200rpm while offering a maximum torque of 90Nm at 3500rpm. The car is also low on fuel consumption and delivers good mileage. The petrol variant offers a mileage of 20.5 kmpl while the CNG variant takes lead with fuel efficiency of 26.6km/kg. Maruti Suzuki is very happy with the sales of CNG variants, well actually it makes up more than 50% of the total sales. These days CNG pumps are not so rare, rather easily available in big cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Tall car like Wagon R has always been one of the best sellers and always find its place in top five since its birth. The success of Wagon R over the past 14 years is maintained due to the fact that it has got its regular upgrades from time to time. First update was seen in year 2003-04, when it got a facelift. Next one was seen in year 2006-07, when an LPG variant was introduced. But the year 2010-11 saw complete updation of the model when the CNG variant was introduced and attracted many buyers. Then in starting of the year 2013, Maruti Suzuki gave another shot and launched this Wagon with many exterior and interior changes.
And that is not all, the company is still working on modifying the Wagon R to a completely new design, making it a 7 seater version of regular hatchback. Reports suggest that the new MUV will be launched in 2016 and will be placed below Ertiga in the hierarchy of Maruti cars. Nicknamed as YJC as of now, the new Wagon R MUV has an annual production target of around 80,000 units.
The interiors of Wagon R is spacious and comfortable with a large dashboard. The car also has push type of cup holders near the front AC vents so you can enjoy sipping while on the go. There is a parcel tray for rear passengers. The speedometer console is upmarket with odometer and digital fuel readers. The audio kit is well integrated with an Aux-in feature, Radio, USB port and gets the surround sound from the four speakers. Additional features include electrically adjustable ORVMs and power operated windows with power steering. The cabin looks bright with dual tone color ambience. The look gets better with chrome touch-up on instrument panel and silver polish on the door handles.
Maruti Wagon R comes with basic safety features like Antilock Braking System (ABS) and intelligent computerized anti-theft system (iCAT) which are good enough at this price. The tall boy gives tough time to its immediate rivals like Ford Figo, Hyundai Grand i10 and Renault Pulse in this segment.