IndiBlog

Ratan Tata's dream project to give India its very own affordable Rs.1 Lakh car is once again under threat. As if the problems pertaining to its plant in Singur werent enough, Suzuki has revaled its plans to launch its very own one lakh rupee car. Suzuki is developing a 660cc engine and a new low-cost small car platform from scratch secretly at its headquarters in Hamamatsu in Japan. The car will roll out of Maruti’s Gurgaon plant by the end of 2008—around the same time that Tata Motors plans to launch its new small car.

Both cars are actually expected to be launched in the Rs.1.25-1.5 lakh price range, Tata has already told the media that due to rising input costs the car cannot be priced at the one lakh rupee mark. The Suzuki and the Tata cars will be the first sub-800cc cars in the Indian market. The Suzuki car will offer over 50 bhp power with a 660cc petrol engine. In comparison, the Tata small car is expected to offer 30 bhp with a 700cc petrol engine. The 796cc Maruti 800 offers 37 bhp, while the Alto 800 offers 47 bhp. Suzuki mini car will be a geared, front-wheel driven car while the Tata car will have a ungeared (continuous variable transmission) engine at the back powering the rear wheels.

So clearly Suzuki's going to give it's new mini car a super efficient engine, more powerful than the 800, Alto & Tata's new car (50 Bhp Vs Tata's 30Bhp is a big power difference). Maruti Suzuki has since long been associated with reliable, easy to maintain fuel efficient petrol cars and it seems that they might just come out as favorite in this mini car challenge. Moreover Tata has had to invest from scratch in developing the new one lakh rupee car and developing the small engine while Suzuki has several mini cars (up to 660cc) such as the Alto Lapin, the MR Wagon, Twin & the latest Cervo in the Japanese market from where it will transfer platforms and engine technology to probably beat Tata at their own dream.