Maruti Compact SUV YBA Spied Testing for First Time; Expected Launch, Price, Feature Details

Maruti Suzuki compact SUV YBA has been spied undergoing tests in the country for the first time ahead of its expected launch in 2016.

A worker cleans a Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire car as he is reflected in a car at the company's stock yard at Sanand in Gujarat.Reuters

Auto enthusiasts in India have heard plenty about Maruti's upcoming compact SUV, and its design elements. After all the hype, first spy images of the Maruti Compact SUV that has began testing on Indian roads, have emerged.

The test mule of the new SUV was snapped by Auto Car India, and the photo shows a rather near-production ready version of the SUV, which is codenamed YBA aka XBA.

From the first spy shots, the overall look of the upcoming SUV has onlookers believing that the car has striking similarities to Suzuki iV-4 concept SUV, which was seen at the 2013 Frankfurt motor show.

Expected to be a sub-four meter SUV, it looks like Maruti YBA will be getting features like angular tail lamps and new smaller grille with horizontal slats. The prototype was seen dressed in heavy camouflage, thus not giving out any key details of the car.

However, rumour mills have churned a few details about the SUV engines. Though the car maker Maruti has always been decisively tight-lipped about its future cars, it is said that the new SUV will be getting the same engines as the recently launched Maruti Ciaz.

Going by the words of original publisher of the spy pics, Maruti YBA is likely to be monikered as Maruti iV4 and the car is likely to be shown at Auto Expo 2016. Once it hits the Indian market, the Maruti compact SUV will be poised to face-off with Ford's popular SUV EcoSport. Taking it further, grapevine has it that the car could be priced ₹5.5 lakh onwards.

Maruti is also testing its new premium hatchback YRA on Indian roads, which is scheduled to break its cover in 2015.Caught on camera on numerous occasions testing, Maruti YRA will rival Honda Jazz and Hyundai Elite i20 that debuted on Indian roads in the recent past.

Under the hood, the car is likely to pack 1.2 litre petrol and 1.3 litre diesel engines. Besides, it is also expected to get upmarket interiors and features, making it a valuable addition to Maruti's already popular line-up.