Maruti Suzuki Alto 800

Maruti Suzuki introduced the new Alto 800 in the Indian market recently. The new Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 comes with minor cosmetic updates over the previous model. Changes to the exterior styling include a new front grille and an updated front bumper. The front bumper now comes with a larger central air dam as well.

Apart from the updates to the front-end, the Maruti Suzuki Alto remains mostly unchanged. The Alto 800 continues to carry the same silhouette as most of its previous models in the market. The Maruti Suzuki has now removed the '800' suffix badging, with the hatchback now called as just the 'Alto'. The new Maruti Alto is also 15mm longer than the previous model, mainly due to the new front bumper.

The Maruti Suzuki Alto design has stayed the same for a long time now and still manages to attract a number of customers. Maruti has kept the design changes to a minimum for the new model, ahead of the next-generation launch later this year.

One other change also includes the addition of a new paint scheme %u2014 Uptown Red. Apart from the new colour, the Maruti Suzuki is available in a range of five other standard paint options: Mojito Green, Cerulian Blue, Silky Silver, Superior White and Granite Grey.

Maruti Suzuki updated the 800cc engine on the Alto. The new 800cc petrol engine on the new Alto is now BS-VI compliant, ahead of the upcoming April 2020 deadline. The engine comes in the form of a 796cc three-cylinder petrol engine producing 48bhp and 69Nm of torque. The engine continues to be mated to a standard five-speed manual gearbox.

The small engine still feels peppy and offers good performance for daily runs in city traffic. With the BS-VI update, the peppy engine is also more efficient and offers better mileage as well. The car is perfect for the daily city runs in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The clutch is light while gearshifts are smooth and fall into place easily.

The Maruti Suzuki Alto comes with a fuel tank capacity of 35-litres. With the BS-VI update to the Maruti Suzuki Alto, the entry-level hatchback now offers a claimed ARAI-Certified fuel efficiency figures of 22.05km/l.

The new Maruti Suzuki Alto comes with a host of additional features and safety equipment. Maruti Suzuki has updated the Alto to comply with the new mandatory safety rule, which ame into effect from April 2019.

As part of the mandatory regulations, the new Maruti Suzuki Alto now comes with ABS with EBD, driver airbags, seat-belt reminders, high-speed alert system and reverse parking sensors all as standard.

Other features on the entry-level hatchback also include: new dual-tone dashboard, double DIN infotainment system, USB, Bluetooth and AUX-in connectivity. The top-spec variants also come with keyless entry, central door locking, front power windows and internally adjustable ORVMs among others.

The Maruti Suzuki Alto has been one of the top-selling entry-level hatchbacks in the Indian market consistently for a couple of years now. The Alto brings in volume sales to the company, with Maruti Suzuki having no plans to stop production of the Alto anytime soon.