Maruti Suzuki launched its most anticipated Celerio diesel hatchback in 2015. What makes this hatchback unique is that it houses the first diesel engine developed in-house from scratch by Suzuki in its 63-year history. Until now the carmaker relied on Fiat-sourced diesel engines to power its vehicles but they finally decided to turn things around.
Suzuki’s homegrown 793cc two-cylinder diesel develops 47bhp and 125 nm of torque. However, power and torque are not something Maruti is counting on to bring in big sales numbers. Rather the brand relied heavily on the Celerio diesel’s fantastic ARAI-tested 27.62 KMPL fuel economy figure to draw in buyers.
The Celerio diesel will take an eternity to reach 100 KMPH and you have to constantly shift just to keep yourself in the power band. The Celerio weighs almost 900kg and with this engine, do overtake with utmost caution.
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Paired with a 5-speed manual transmission, the diesel Celerio became the most fuel-efficient car in India beating the Swift DZire facelift, which is also from the same manufacturer. The interiors remain unchanged, with the diesel variants sharing features similar to those on its petrol sibling. There is also an options pack on the ZDi that adds a front passenger airbag and ABS.
Also Read: All New Maruti Celerio VS Tata Tiago VS Hyundai Santro
The new Celerio compact hatchback follows Maruti Suzuki’s modus operandi of making cars that are reliable and practical, compact yet roomy. Maruti Suzuki has also kept the design of this car safe and clean so that it doesn’t raise any eyebrows.
On the outside, the Celerio diesel is top to bottom, bumper-to-bumper identical to the regular petrol or CNG Celerio, except for the DDis badge of course. Externally, Maruti did not make any changes to the Celerio diesel, even the tyre and rim size are exactly the same. Sadly, low sales numbers drove this to extinction, just a year after it was launched and Maruti sold the leftover inventory with huge discounts.
