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HomeFeatured ArticlesGoMechanic Fun Reads10 Forgotten Maruti Suzuki Cars in India: From Versa to Esteem

10 Forgotten Maruti Suzuki Cars in India: From Versa to Esteem

Maruti Suzuki, the largest carmaker in India was incorporated back in 1981 on 24 February. Since then the company has never looked back in terms of sales and is still ruling the market. But there are few cars from the manufacturer that faded away with the past. Let’s take a look at 10 such forgotten cars from Maruti Suzuki.

  1. Maruti Suzuki Zen D | The Diesel Variant Of The Cult

    Maruti Suzuki Zen D | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India
    Maruti Suzuki Zen D | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India

    Indians were elated with the budget cars from Maruti Suzuki. Maruti 800 and the Zen are proof of this love. This is why the company decided to launch the diesel variant of Zen. It was equipped with a Peugeot sourced 1.5-litre diesel engine which used to deliver 58hp of power and 96Nm of peak torque. But it was not able to gain the traction, company dreamt of.

  2. Maruti Suzuki Versa | The Real MPV

    Maruti Suzuki Versa | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India
    Maruti Suzuki Versa | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India

    Everyone must have seen Eeco someday or the other. But very few of you may remember the Versa, predecessor to the Eeco. Launched with Amitabh Bachan as the brand ambassador, Maruti wanted to make sure it reached the heart of its customers. But the MPV was not able to gain much popularity and was replaced by Eeco in 2009.

  3. Maruti Suzuki Zen Carbon and Steel | The Limited Edition

    Maruti Suzuki Zen Carbon and Steel (Modified) | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India
    Maruti Suzuki Zen Carbon and Steel (Modified) | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India

    The cult of Zen made people go crazy in love with the limited edition company launched in a small number of 300 units. The carbon and steel Zen was a three-door version of the original Zen. You might have come across one of these in a modified version.

  4. Maruti Suzuki A-Star | Cute Yet A Fail

    Maruti Suzuki A-Star | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India
    Maruti Suzuki A-Star | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India

    The company is known for launching affordable cars to rival the cars across segments. To rival the famous Hyundai i10, Maruti launched A-Star. But the problem was, it had to rival its own tribe, Swift and the Wagon R. This was the case and the hatchback failed in terms of sales. In 2012, the car was discontinued.

  5. Maruti Suzuki Ritz | A-Star In A New Avatar

    Maruti Suzuki Ritz | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India
    Maruti Suzuki Ritz | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India

    As the company discontinued A-Star, there was a pile of unused parts and material Maruti wasn’t ready to discard. So the engineers came up with a better alternative, Ritz. The car came with two engine options: 1.2-litre Petrol and a 1.3-litre Diesel. The car was known for its exceptional ride comfort, powerful performance and tallboy stance. It can still be seen on roads.

  6. Maruti Suzuki Baleno Altura | Cause Why Not?

    Maruti Suzuki Baleno Altura | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India
    Maruti Suzuki Baleno Altura | Forgotten Maruti Cars In India

    The Baleno is a hit car nowadays, ruling its segment in terms of sales. Back in time, Baleno used to come in a station wagon version. The company tried to tap in the segment which was already popular in the European market. The station wagon was known by the name of Baleno Altura. It was powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine. But the car met the same fate as the other wagons in India.
    Have fun reading: 10 Forgotten Station Wagons (Estate Cars) Of India

  7. Maruti Suzuki 1000 Or Esteem?

    Maruti Suzuki 1000
    Maruti Suzuki 1000

    It was this car that marked the sedan introduction from the company. It was meant for elite customers. The sedan, when launched in 1990, 1000 came with a price tag of ₹3,81,000 which was towards the higher end at that time. It was powered by a 1.0-litre engine which could manage to produce 46hp of power. Later the car was upgraded with a 1.3-litre engine and was badged with the name tag of Esteem. This is the name many of you might remember.

  8. Maruti Suzuki Omni | The Kidnappers’ Car

    Maruti Suzuki Omni
    Maruti Suzuki Omni

    Children were afraid of this car as the Omni was known to be favourite among kidnappers. Just Kidding! It was a versatile vehicle known to be used for ambulance or cargo carrier. With a variety of seating options and configurations, Omni was known to make a segment of its own. But the car had major drawbacks when the safety was concerned. As India is heading towards safer roads by the implementation of BNVSAP, the company discontinued Omni.

  9. Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara | The CBU Failure

    Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara
    Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara

    The company had no full-size SUV. So the Grand Vitara was launched. But the CBU import added to the price and the price tag was ₹20lakhs. And the customers were not ready to spend this much on a Maruti. Although the powerful 2.4-litre V6 Petrol engine was able to attract a few, the company discontinued the model in 2014. Now the Vitara Brezza name is carried forward by a less powerful sub-4 compact SUV.

  10. Maruti Suzuki 800 | A Legacy of its own

    Maruti Suzuki 800
    Maruti Suzuki 800

    The Indian wanted a budget car and Maruti came to rescue with the very well-known legend 800. The ‘Hall Of Fame’ car was loved by the customers and is the longest selling Maruti car till date. Affordable and Fuel Efficient, 800 never saw any tough competition in the market. It was the emission norms compliance that led to discontinuation of the car from the market. It is still a heartthrob amongst the ones who modify the legacy.

So this was our list of the 10 forgotten Maruti cars in India. Do you own any or did we miss any car? Let us know in the comment section below.

Why miss: 10 Forgotten Luxury Cars In India | From Contessa To Impala

Ritvik Gupta
Ritvik Guptahttps://gomechanic.in/blog
Ex-Technical Content Developer at GoMechanic | Automobile enthusiast with a knack to decode it for everyone | Automobile Engineer by passion

50 COMMENTS

    • We have not forgotten the luxury Kizaashi at all. We had to choose which car had a better run and obviously Kizashi’s run was a short-lived one, all thanks to its high pricing.

  1. The title should have not been “forgotten cars” as many of these still ply on the road with good road presence. Maybe for the current generation it might be.

  2. May I humbly point out my observations:
    In fact A-star was discontinued on 2014 only, not 2012. Further, it was replaced by Celerio and not by Ritz. A-star and Ritz were contemporaries; both were launched in 2008 (Ritz rolled off till 2016)

    Another important issue is that our most beloved Gypsy seems in your article. Hope it will be included in the second part.

    • Hi, Hari P Nair
      Actually, A-Star was not replaced by Ritz, the leftovers were used in Ritz as the latter was selling well while A-Star had to be discontinued. And thanks a lot for pointing this out.

  3. Another important issue is that our most beloved Gypsy seems omitted in your article. Hope it will be included in the second part.

  4. మా ఇంటిల్లి పదికి భాగాన చి మారుతి 800 2014 ఇంకను మేము వాడు వాడుతున్నాము

  5. Ritvik I am no car buff but Ritz was launched way before A-Star. Moreover I don’t usually comment on factual errors on unverified open blogs like yours but we are in quarantine,hence the comment. When you are putting things in black and white, you should be sure of facts

    • Hi Dr Rohit,
      Maruti Suzuki launched the A-Star in the month of November in 2008 whereas Ritz was launched in the month of May 2009. The company had no success with the A-Star in terms of sales. I sincerely thank you for posting your question on our blog. Stay tuned for more 🙂

  6. I miss versa this most compitable to Ecco so plzi request to Suzuki plz stop Ecco prodution & launch versa again with new series this is family car with all facilities with power pickup & sply with great ac

    • Hi Ramesh,
      Versa was indeed a good MPV and was suitable for a family but Maruti intended to bring a vehicle for the commercial purpose at a lower cost so Versa was discontinued and Eeco was launched. Stay tuned and one day you might get news about Versa relaunching.

    • Hi Veeresh!
      Thanks for reading and commenting!
      Suzuki Kizashi was a great car for sure! It was a pure Japanese soul but couldn’t do great in India. We will definitely include that in our next list of forgotten cars!
      Stay Pinned!

  7. You bring back little bit upgraded without diturbing orignality. Maruti 800.with same name
    It will Hit mrket.

      • The SX4 has morphed into the SCross. The SX4 had a liftback/ crossover version which did not come to India. The Esteem also had a 5 door hatch called the Cultus which did not come to India.Now you know!!!

  8. Excellent blog really enjoyed reading it, I was working with Maruti from 2009 to 2012. The information provided in your blog is accurate. After reading this I am recalling my Maruti days..😀

  9. The Maruti 1000 was the first generation Suzuki Swift Sedan. It was all Japanese. Nothing indian about it. The door monted AC vents were a Suzuki design. Maruti simply indegenised some parts, to the cars detriment. Otherwise it was an all Japanese design like the Grand Vitara.Get your facts right

    • Hi Inder,

      We have nowhere mentioned that the Maruti 1000 was designed in India. It was one of the initial offerings from Maruti Suzuki in India which made it worthy of the list. Plenty of cars from the carmaker are either inspired by Global Suzuki cars or are sold under Maruti Suzuki branding in India.

  10. Ritwick you are totally wrong in terms of Ritz. It wasnt due to left over parts in maruti. The Ritz was a global car launched as Suzuki Splash and launched in India as Suzuki Ritz. Please correct your article.

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