Maruti Suzuki launches XL6 in India, price starts at Rs 9.80 lakh

With the Indian automobile market is facing difficulty with its slowing sales, the companies are still competing to lure the customers by following the trend and producing SUVs and MPVs within the mid-range segment, with the latest technology and spectacular designs installed in them. Brands like -- Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Mahindra, Honda, and Renault -- have been competing with their peak-ranging technology, trying to beat each other in the pricing game.

The latest unveiling of Maruti Suzuki's XL6 has set up a target for its competitors by providing its customers with the lowest price for an MPV with a magnificent futuristic design. The six-sitter MPV was launched at a price of Rs 9.80 lakh. Maruti will be selling XL6 as its fifth vehicle under the Nexa dealership following the cars like Ignis, Baleno, Ciaz, and S-Cross.

The MPV will be sporting six colour variants available to the customers in Nexa Blue, Brave Khaki, Auburn Red, Magma Grey, Premium Silver, and Arctic White. XL6 will be launching in the market with its Zeta MT version priced at Rs 9.80 lakh, Zeta AT version for Rs 10.90 lakh, Alpha MT for Rs 10.36 and Alpha AT for Rs 11.46 lakh.

The six-sitter confirmed to start its booking from August 9 for an initial down payment of Rs 10,000, will be competing against its own brand's Ertiga, which is priced between 7.55 to 11.21 lakh.

Now let's take a look at what makes XL6 different from Maruti Suzuki Ertiga at almost the same price range for the high-end versions:

Maruti Suzuki integrated the XL6 with the BS6-compliant K15 petrol engine. The monster boasts of 105 hp producing 138 Nm of peak torque. It comes with a 5-speed manual stick with an option for a 4-speed automatic torque converter.

Coming to the looks and interiors, the beast sports a chrome front grille having cross-bar chrome garnish, has unique quad-LED headlamps, LED DRLs, Led light guide for the tail lamps, side cladding, and all back alloy wheels. The company gave the new launch a classy black spacious interior boasting of a stone finish. The car hosts its users with leather upholstery, second-row captain seats, and third-row reclining seats. The seat stitching is almost similar to the Ertiga with slight modifications in the second row having two individual seats rather than a bench seat as of its predecessor. It also hosts a multifunction leather-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel and cruise control.

The company has also focused on providing its users' peak level entertainment during their commute. It has packed the auto with a 17.8 cm SmartPlay Studio touchscreen that allows smartphone connectivity.

However, Maruti Suzuki has continued following its trend of infusing its cars with Suzuki's fifth-generation Heartech platform to improve safety while driving. The Heartech platform provides safety sensors to detect frontal-offset impact, side-impact, and pedestrian protection. The company has also equipped the car with on-board safety features like dual front airbags, ABS, high-speed warning alert and reverse parking sensors. The company also announced that the automatic variant will be fitted with the Electronic Stability Program with the hill-hold function.

The four-wheel auto craze of Indian youth is constantly shifting from the sedan class to the SUVs and MPVs. The latest revelation on the sales of four-wheel cars reflects a tremendous increase in the purchase of muscle cars by the youth, who are also the major sales targets as they have both interest and financial capability to spend largely on their hobbies.

Focusing on the major buyers in the market, it is the best time for the companies to adapt to the trend and produce muscle cars to boost car sales to some extent.