New Maruti Suzuki ALTO K10 Ready to Launch

The new K10 is more fuel efficient than the outgoing model at 24.07 km/l.

The new K10 is based on the Alto 800, but gets its own design formula with new headlights, a chrome grille, new front and rear bumpers, Celerio-inspired taillights and a new rear windshield.

Inside, the dashboard of the new K10 looks nothing like the Alto 800 or even the older K10 for that matter. Designers have given the city punter an attractive dual-tone black-and-beige interior with a piano-black finish for the center console and a new 3-spoke steering wheel. The instrument cluster and switchgear are new and appear very modern.

The most significant update to the K10 is the addition of the AMT (automated manual transmission), which was first introduced on the Celerio. The top-end variant of the car can be had with a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 5-speed AMT, both of which have an ARAI certified fuel efficiency of 24.07 km/l.

Maruti has carried over the engine from the previous K10. The 1.0-liter three-cylinder K-Series engine outputs the same 68 PS (67.04 bhp) and 90 Nm of torque. Petrol and CNG variants of the car will be offered. The CNG variant has an ARAI rated mileage of 32.26 km/kg.

The big news is that the new Alto K10 will be offered with an optional automatic gearbox, making it the world’s cheapest automatic car when it goes on sale soon. Prices for the new K10 haven’t been announced yet, but we estimate the K10 automatic to be priced at around Rs 3.8 lakh (around Rs 40,000 cheaper than the cheapest Maruti Celerio automatic), and the base manual to be pegged at a smidgen over Rs 3 lakh, and for those looking for very low running costs, Maruti will introduce a CNG version as well.

Competitors: Hyundai Eon 1.0L, Datsun Go
Expected Price: INR 3.2-4 lakhs, ex-Showroom
Launch date: Next month