Report - Next gen Maruti Alto K10 with AMT launching by Jan 2015

According to a report by the Financial Express, Maruti-Suzuki will launch the next generation Maruti Alto K10 this financial year. A source aware of the development told the newspaper that a launch could take place by January next year.

The highlights of the new Alto K10 will be its design, which is reported to be inspired by the new Maruti Celerio, and its automated manual transmission (AMT). The interiors of the car will be revamped as well and will look more modern and offer better space.

The upgraded Alto K10 will compete with the likes of the Hyundai Eon 1L (which was launched yesterday) and the Datsun Go. Maruti will continue to use its three-cylinder 1.0-liter K-Series engine on the new K10. This engine develops 68 PS at 6,200 rpm and 90 Nm of torque at 3,500 rpm and comes equipped with a cable-operated 5-speed manual transmission.

The current Alto K10 has an ARAI certified fuel efficiency claim of 20.92 km/l, and the newer model could better this claim. Also, since Maruti engineers will use an AMT system and not a traditional automatic, the fuel efficiency claim for the automatic K10 would be identical to the manual variant. However Maruti does have a problem sourcing enough AMT kits from its supplier which should have a bearing on its waiting period.

[Source - Financial Express]