Maruti Suzuki India finally launched the new Maruti Suzuki Swift hatchback in India with prices starting Rs 6.49 lakh (ex-showroom) onwards. The bookings for the new Swift are already underway, interested customers can book it online or by visiting their car dealer.

The booking amount for a brand new Maruti Suzuki Swift hatchback is Rs 11000. Test drives and deliveries are going to begin from May 12 onwards. The new Maruti Suzuki Swift is being offered in 5 variants: VXi, LXi, and ZXI Plus, DT ZXi plus with prices ranging from Rs 6.49 lakh to Rs 9.64 lakh (ex-showroom) onwards.

The new Swift is available in 9 exterior colour options with 3 dual – tone and 2 new luster blue and noval orange colours. The company is also offering Thrill Chaser and Racing Roadstar accessory packages which add cosmetic changes inside-out.

The new Maruti Suzuki Swift in its 4^th generation is a heavily updated version of the 3^rd generation platform and comes with a new design, new engine, improved dynamics and an updated interior layout with new features and safety. The new Swift is 40mm narrower, 15mm longer and 30 mm taller than the old model. The wheel base remains the same at 2450 mm.

The front bumper of the new Maruti Suzuki Swift has been re-designed with a new grille and comes with chunky black surrounds which also features re-designed smoked LED headlamps along with DRLs. The Maruti Suzuki Swift also gets the revised fog lamp which is housed with a splitter.

The clamshell bonnet of the new Maruti Suzuki Swift is a lot shallower and the door handles, the sides for the rear doors are back to their conventional location, instead of the C-pillar the new Maruti Suzuki Swift hatchback also comes with designed 15-inch alloy wheels. Prominent character lines can be seen running across the door panels.

Kia India has expanded its Seltos lineup with the launch of new 6-speed manual transmission variants with diesel engine options. Priced between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 18.28 lakh, ex-showroom, these trims expand the Seltos lineup to a total of 24 variants. The new diesel trims with MT and is available in 5 options THE, HTK, HTK+,HTX, HTX+.

The 116 hp, 250 Nm diesel motor was earlier offered only with an option of a 6-speed iMT and a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The Seltos, one of the most popular Kia SUVs in India, received a facelift in July 2023 and has since achieved notable success, reaching 65,000 units in sales to date.

Since its 2019 debut, the model range has sold 6 lakh units in domestic and international markets, contributing more than 51% to Kia India’s total domestic dispatches. In fact on the global level, one out of every 10 Kia cars sold is a Seltos.

The South Korean carmaker has expanded the transmission options for the model not long after the launch of the updated Hyundai Creta, which gets six diesel MT variants priced between Rs 12.45 lakh and Rs 18.74 lakh. Both prices are ex-showroom.

The new Seltos offers 32 safety features, a Level 2 ADAS suite with upto 17 features, a twin 10.25-inch display for infotainment and instrumentation, dual zone automatic air conditioner, and 18-inch crystal cut alloy wheels. Additional features include a dual-pane panoramic sunroof and electric parking brake among others.

Kia has not introduced this powertrain option on the Seltos GT Line and X-Line variants. Bookings for the Seltos diesel-MT are currently open, with deliveries slated to commence next month. In a bid to push more iMT gearbox-equipped SUVs, Kia had slowly pulled the plug on the Seltos diesel-manual from the Indian market last year. However sales of the iMT models haven’t been on par with the manual gearbox equipped models in general.

MG Motor India announced the launch of the 2024 MG Astor. The price for the new Astor starts from Rs 9.98 lakh and it will be available in five variants – Sprint, shine, select, Sharp Pro, and Savvy Pro. No changes have been made to the car inside or outside and it also remains mechanically unchanged.

The 2024 Astor gets additional features such as ventilated seats in the front row, auto dimming IRVM, apple car play & Wireless Android Auto and Wireless Charger along with an updated i-SMART 2.0 with over 80 connected features, Jio-powered voice recognition system, and a digital key function with an anti-theft feature.

The i-Smart 2.0 and 80+ connected features such as voice commands for News, Dictionary, Horoscope, Date/Day information, Clock, Calculator, Cricket updates and weather. Other features include a panoramic sunroof, steering weight adjustment with driving modes, heated wing leaders, 360-degree camera, tyre pressure monitor, electric parking brake, leatherette upholstery, 7-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.1 inch touchscreen infotainment system.

In terms of safety the car gets rear disc brakes, hill start and descent control, traction control, ESP, brake assist, EBD, ABS and six airbags. It also gets Level-2 ADAS features such as Lane Keep Asist, Lane Departure Warning, Adaptive cruise control and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB).

The Astor remains mechanically unchanged. It gets two petrol engine options – a1.5ltr NA Petrol engine which puts out 110hp of power and 144 Nm of Torque. Another engine is the 1.3 ltr turbo petrol which puts out 140hp of power 220 Nm Torque. The NA engine gets a 5-speed manual or CVT automatic, the turbo petrol gets a 6-speed torque converter automatic.

Gaurav Gupta, Managing Director, MG Motor India said they are committed to meeting customer expectations with products that showcase the latest in automobile technology. Keeping to his promise as a brand celebrating its centenary this year, the Astor 2024 line-up offers a combination of features, design, and great value propositions.