A MOMENT Please!

As much as we love to indulge in a self-inflicted state of denial driven with BMW,SUV and Merc dreams,the future belongs to hatchbacks. Smart,compact,easy to manoeuvre,easy to park,pack-it-all in ‘miniaudiere’ of a car that fits the budget and family. That’s exactly what Maruti Suzuki’s (leave the budget for the while) new baby on the road,Ritz is all about – a mini luxury in the A2 premium hatchback segment. Also known as Splash in other markets,what makes Ritz worth the ‘Live the Moment’ tag is its design,space utility and engineering. But if we were to strip it down to layman’s lingo,then it’s an A-Star,i10,i20; all ‘hatched’ in one. And going by the aerodynamic shape,exterior design,the smashing new colours (love the glistening green and bakers chocolate) and harmonization of a smashing interior with the exterior colour palette,our guess is that there were more women on board than men during the brainstorming session. Sample this – a chic waterfall console,classy AC louvers,retro tachopod,ergonomically placed gear box,sporty dashboard,two-tone colour coordinated interiors,a large clear to read speedometer,height adjustable seats,steering and seat belts,steering mounted controls and a never ending list of smart storage options (a woman’s dream) including 60:40 split rear seat,underseat tray,bag hooks,coin holder – the car’s definitely custom-made for a lady. Like Ankur Sharma,Regional Manager Maruti Suzuki points out,“In the last five years,we’ve seen a exponential growth in women drivers,and because they are financially independent,there is more demand for such cars.”

While the A-Star’s doing average business,will this affect Swift’s sales? “Not at all,” they assure us. Okay,5 to 10 per cent. See,Ritz combined a European design plus the sportiness of Swift. The petrol version has a 1.2-litre K-series four-cylinder engine,rated at 85 horsepower while the diesel is the same except the Fiat 1.3 Multijet,delivering 74 hp. You get 17 km per litre in petrol and 21 km per litre in diesel. Power steering and AC in all models is coupled with a stiff chassis and a well-engineered suspension,great for Indian roads. Also,the suspension’s been raised,and it has a tall-boy profile. But it’s not a tall boy car. It’s a girl car,and more so,a middle-class family car,that too the upper middle crust who can afford about four lakhs for the base model. And this,they inform,is a special introductory price!