Whenever Maruti Suzuki announces a new car, it creates a buzz in the Indian market. Well, the Global NCAP test results might make a few people change their decision but MS still remains the top-selling car brand in India anyhow. You can see a Maruti car in every segment where almost all of them are the segment leaders in terms of sales. In today’s featured, we are going to talk about Maruti Suzuki Cervo. This car created hype for sure but never made it into the Indian market. Let’s have a look at this dream hatch which never turned into a reality.
Maruti Suzuki Cervo: Initial Impressions
From the above picture, you might have noticed that the car doesn’t look like a modern-day Maruti Suzuki. FYI, this car was supposed to be launched in India in 2010. This hatch would have been the entry-level hatch for the Indian brand replacing the legend – the Maruti 800! The Suzuki Cervo was already running successfully on the Japanese roads and seeing the success, they wanted to bring it to India. Sad, but true, this car could never make it here. What’s worse? The reason still remains unknown!
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Maruti Suzuki Cervo: Engine and Specs
The Japanese version had a 660cc engine and we could expect the Indian version to have the same engine as well. That said, the Maruti Suzuki Cervo would sit below the Alto in the lineup and would have a price range of Rs.1.5-2 Lakhs. Tata already had Nano in the Indian market and Cervo could surely take on the Nano with these engine specs. The transmission would have been a 4-speed manual which was good enough for this engine and this price range too.
Engine Specs
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| Engine | 660cc | ||
| Transmission | 4-Speed Manual | ||
| Power | 54bhp | ||
| Expected Mileage | 25kmpl | ||
Maruti Suzuki Cervo: Design & Features
This is what the Japanese used to get at that time. If Cervo made it to India, we would get the same design as well! The hatch has got a lot of curves and sharp edges which give it an overall sporty look. Also, the wheel covers are designed really well. The hatch also had an integrated spoiler which enhanced the rear look. Other features like body-coloured ORVMs and handles and turn indicators on the ORVMs (not seen in the above picture, but they were available in higher variants) could have made this hatch stand out.
You would see an automatic transmission in the picture above but they had no plans to bring it to India as Maruti Suzuki Cervo was meant to rival the Tata Nano and price would be the only USP in this battle. Alternatively, the interior of the car looked quite neat and clean and in my opinion, better than the Tata Nano. The dash design seems to be inspired by Swift. This car was also expected to deliver a good sound system with Bluetooth connectivity. However, other safety features such as an immobilizer, child safety lock etc would come as standard.
Why India couldn’t have the Cervo? | Our Assumptions
- The first reason why we think Cervo couldn’t make it to India is the cost. Indians expected Cervo to compete against the Nano and Maruti Suzuki could have sensed a loss if they sold Cervo in the expected price range. On the other hand, people would not buy Cervo for a higher price because of its small engine capacity.
- Rumours suggested that MSIL also had plans to launch Cervo with a 1.0-litre engine and sit above the already existing 800cc Alto. The reason they might have dropped this here too could have been the investment. Instead of launching a whole new brand, they decided to put the 1.0-litre engine in an already trusted brand name (Alto) and hence, we got the Alto K10 in 2010.
These were the 2 main reasons why we think we couldn’t have Cervo here on the Indian shores.
This was all for what Maruti wanted Cervo to be and why we think Indians couldn’t have it. What do you think about this budget hatch that never made it to the Indian roads? Do let us know in the comments section below!
