New Maruti Dzire Hits The Taxi Circuit: We Explain Why
Maruti Suzuki recently launched the new-generation Dzire in the Indian market. The Dzire has been an extremely popular sedan in the sub-4-meter segment. Soon after the launch, Maruti had said that they wouldn’t be offering the new Dzire for the commercial sector and that it could only be registered as a private vehicle. However, it looks like things have changed, and we now have a video showing a current-generation Dzire with commercial number plates.
The video has been shared by Raftaar 7811 on their YouTube channel. In this video, we see a current-generation Dzire from Rajasthan with commercial or taxi registration. This is not the first time Maruti has made an announcement like this. Even with the previous-generation model, Maruti had said that they wouldn’t offer the sedan for taxi registrations.
They had the old Swift Dzire for the taxi market as the Dzire Tour S variant. However, over time, Maruti offered the last generation for the commercial segment. Maruti does this to protect the image of the sedan. In India, a car is an aspirational product, and people don’t like seeing their car being driven as a taxi. This damages the image of the product and discourages many from buying it.
However, the Dzire is a great sedan that offers a spacious cabin and a comfortable ride, making it a good candidate for use as a taxi. Even today, the Dzire is a dominant player in the taxi segment. While Maruti had initially said that they wouldn’t offer the new-generation Dzire in the commercial segment, we knew it was coming.
The current-generation Dzire is powered by a 1.2-liter, 3-cylinder petrol engine available with both manual and AMT gearbox options. This is the same engine as the new Swift. The sedan generates 80 Bhp and 111 Nm of peak torque. Maruti has also launched the CNG version of the sedan, which generates 69 Bhp and 101 Nm of peak torque.
It is an extremely suitable sedan for use as a taxi, as it is highly fuel-efficient. The petrol version of the sedan comes with an ARAI-certified economy of 24.97 kmpl.
The CNG version returns a claimed economy of 33.73 kmpl. The AMT petrol version of the sedan offers 25.71 kmpl. The AMT version is highly unlikely to be seen with a commercial registration plate. It will also be the first sedan in the cab segment to be offered with six airbags as standard.
Maruti Suzuki has also worked on the build quality of the sedan, and we have come across a couple of examples proving the same. The Maruti Suzuki Dzire was sent to Global NCAP for a crash test, where the sedan scored a 5-star rating.
Unlike the last-generation Dzire, the current generation doesn’t get mild hybrid technology. However, the manufacturer is working on a new series hybrid technology, which will first be introduced in the facelifted version of the Fronx. This system is different from the regular strong hybrid system. Once this system is introduced in the Fronx, we expect it to be carried forward to other affordable models like the Swift and Dzire.