Maruti Alto 800 : A brief parting on a Delhi Ring Road choked by morning traffic revealed for a moment the ungainly form of a small hatchback, which struck me not only because of its heretical diminutiveness and modest pace but because something appeared to be off about the way it looked.
The recognizable out line of the Alto was in evidence, but with a far more middle-class air. I had followed it for several kilometers by now, and I couldn’t take it anymore; at the next red light, I nosed up to the driver’s window to ask him about his car.
“Yeh Naya Alto hai, premium edition,” (It’s the new Alto, premium edition)” he told me, bursting with pride.
It was this chance encounter that also provided me with my first view of what Maruti Suzuki has been silently working on – an all-new Alto 800 that wants to change the game in India’s entry-level car segment.
I had the car with me for 3 days last week, and its been quite an experience I must say!
Not just simply a cosmetic update to one of India’s best-selling small cars, but this is a wholehearted effort to what premium features and exceptional efficiency can do to the budget segment.
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Maruti Alto 800 Luxury Trappings in an Unlikely Guise
The Alto has always been a case of function over form, prioritising practicality and affordability over aesthetics.
The new Lux Edition drastically upends this equation, all without leaving the car’s core value proposition behind.
It gets a major facelift on the outside with a new front fascia that includes chrome grille accents and a more upscale headlamp design with LED Daylight Running Lights — something never seen on a car of this size before.
The side profile is still very Alto-like, but it now gets new 13-inch alloy wheels (on the top trim) instead of the steel rims and hubcap combination of the regular version, which immediately enhances the little hatchback’s visual appeal.
Humne research mein dekha ki entry-level customers bhi premium feel chahte hain,” (In our research, we found that even entry-level customers want a premium feel),” said Rajiv Kumar, a Maruti dealership manager in South Delhi when I test-visited him.
“They might have a budget, but they’re fearless and they’re not different from somebody buying a luxury car.”
This ethos is replicated inside, where the change is perhaps even more stark. There’s an all-new dashboard design which, with it’s piano black inserts and contrast silver highlights, gives the cabin an unexpectedly premium feel.
The instrument cluster has been updated to include a 5.1-inch digital display between the analog gauges giving a lean-forward tech feel you wouldn’t expect at this car’s price point.
What did impress me, particularly when driving around town, was the seat upholstery – a textured fabric with contrasting stitching that looks and feels a lot more premium than the cheap, utilitarian materials usually found here.
We drove for three straight hours in and around Delhi-NCR in variety of road surfaces and the seats offered comfort and support that was surprising.
The tech package is up to the mark as well, the top variant is equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system which offers wireless phone projection in the form of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto -stuff that was unthinkable in an Alto till a few years back.
The responsiveness and overall quality of the screen are up to par with what we’ve seen in cars that cost twice as much.
“Customers, regardless of budget, are more tech-savvy,” said Vikram Singh, a Maruti product specialist whom I interviewed at the company’s Gurugram facility. “Smart features are not only premium, it is a pre-requisite in every segment now.”
Maruti Alto 800 The Efficiency Breakthrough: 32 km/l. Fact, Fiction or Just Marketing?
While not taking the spotlight away from visual and feature enhancements, the numberplate must be the claimed fuel efficiency of 32 km/l, which would be up to 20 percent more than the already healthy numbers that the existing Alto does, and make it India’s most frugal petrol car should the claim hold true.
Maruti credits a couple of things for this astonishing efficiency. No surprises, but the familiar 796cc three-cylinder engine gets a host of updos including new low-friction components, retuned valve timing and an updated combustion chamber.
[The vehicle] also features a start-stop system – another segment-first – that shuts down the engine when the car’s not moving, such as at traffic lights or in long lines of traffic.
How well does all this work in the real world? In my mixed city and highway testing in and around Delhi-NCR panning approximately 210km in varying situations, this bike delivered me a healthy and stable average of 28.7kmpl – lower than the claim but still mind-blowing for real world riding.
In a stretch of straight highway, ridden lazily at a constant speed, the small screen on the instruments displayed HB-like thermal efficiency crossing over 30 kpl.
“Fuel economy is still the top priority for the core Alto customer,” said Anand Prakash, a senior engineer at Maruti whom I spoke with about the technical enhancements. “Every design decision was measured by the impact it would have on kilometers per liter.
And this obsessive attention to efficiency has not come at the expense of the drive. The former makes 48 PS and 69 Nm of torque, modest numbers but perfectly decent for the 755-ish kg car.
But during my test through jammed Delhi traffic, the Alto accelerated without a hiccup from low speeds, and there was enough grunt for city driving too.
Freeway overtaking takes a little more planning but the car is happy cruising at 80-90 km/h once it reaches speed.
Maruti Alto 800 Added Value: Luxury Features, Reasonable Cost
Now, with all these add ons one would expect that it commands a sizeable price over the standard Alto. It is interesting to note that Maruti has priced the vehicle relatively well.
Base version of the new Lux Edition is priced from ₹4.25 lakh, while the fully-loaded version’s pricing goes up to ₹5.45 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom).
This is a good ₹50,000-70,000 more than for the corresponding standard Alto variants, but the extra features, better efficiency and stylish look do make for a strong value equation.
When I visited the dealership, I saw at least a few prospects comparing the Lux Edition with the regular Alto, and other manufacturers’ entries.
“I came to see the standard Alto, but I didn’t think I’d get so many features at this price point,” said Ramesh Sharma, a first-time car buyer I met at the showroom. “The higher EMI is worth it for the better experience and lower fuel bills.”
For Maruti, this premium journey of ‘Alto’ is an opportunity the company sees owing to a wider trend in the Indian market — of first-time buyers who have sub-Rs 5-lakh budget but premium expectations, influenced by smartphones and other technology products where a premium experience is now democratized.
As I reluctantly handed back the keys at the conclusion of my three-day stint, there was one thought that kept bouncing around my head: the unassuming Alto, once limited to being cheap and cheerful transport, has become something much more aspirational – a budget car that doesn’t make its owner feel like they’re making the sacrifices usually demanded by entry-level motoring.
