Maruti Suzuki Ciaz set to move to Nexa; drops major hint through teaser

In what appears to be the first hint at Maruti Suzuki's plan to shift its Ciaz sedan to the company's premium dealership — Nexa — the country's leading car-maker has released a teaser image. While the image does not give away any clue on the model coming our way, the tagline reads: "An extra ordinary experience is moving to Nexa".

The Ciaz, which is currently being sold through the regular dealerships of the company, is expected to be part of Nexa lineup from April. Recent images of the Ciaz bound for Nexa dealerships have shown the model without Maruti Suzuki and variant badging at the rear, similar to other models sold on Nexa. In the Nexa avatar, the changes in the Ciaz are likely to be minimal and the latest we hear is that there could be a new colour on the Ciaz palette in Nexa.

The Ciaz has been a consistent performer in the Maruti Suzuki lineup and has also managed to take the reign from the Honda city in the fast-growing sedan segment. With the Ciaz's shifting to Nexa, the Ciaz numbers are expected to scale up again, which would give a further boost to Maruti's transition from 'budget carmaker' to 'premium brand'.

Under the Nexa, too, the Ciaz is likely to be continued in its current shape. Currently, the Ciaz is powered by a 1,373cc petrol unit and 1,248cc diesel units. While the petrol unit develops 91bhp at 6,000rpm and 130Nm of torque at 4,000rpm mated to five-speed manual transmission, the diesel unit comes equipped with a small hybrid system, makes 89bhp at 4,000rpm and 200Nm of torque at 1,750rpm. The petrol variant is also available with four-speed automatic transmission.

Maruti Nexa began its journey in India in July 2015 with the launch of the S-Cross premium crossover. Although the S-Cross had initial hiccups due to its exorbitant price tag, Maruti managed to get it back on the track with the next set of models such as the Baleno and the Ignis. The latest one to join the Nexa is the Baleno RS, a more powerful variant of the Baleno premium hatchback. With the Ciaz now moving to Nexa, the premium dealership chain of Maruti will now retail a total of four models.