[Doge]

Originally Posted by Aurora Zero

It's a real shame to see really good cars being discontinued over the mostly useless craze of pseudo SUVs which can't even go offroad if their lives depended on it. It is high time we actively do something to stop this dirty game.

They are not useless, at least on the roads that I have seen. They have a decent advantage when driving over bad roads and water logged monsoons that a lot of India deals with. As much as I prefer the looks of a proper 3 box sedan to a crossover like a Creta, I don't think I can buy one as my only car, having a healthy GC is just much easier to live with and travel around in India.

[Srini76]

Hello,

I own the 4th gen city and extensively use a Ciaz as well (work car) - I moved from a Fiesta back then and evaluated both and wanted an automatic - the Ciaz then, had the old torque convertor and decided against it.

That being said, I must say that the Ciaz has space and no dearth of it. Personally, I feel it's a lot more comfortable as a car when compared to the city and more spacious. I am not going by specs, but by what I feel.

About upgrades and adding features, agreed Honda has not been spot on but, MS just took us for granted in my view. I didn't even get follow up calls during the purchase cycle and the price was about the same plus or minus with NEXA practically being next door and the car being readily available - maybe they have improved now, I agree.

Lovely car, the Ciaz by itself, and it also had a micro-hybrid, but MS kind of managed to ignore it and are now pulling the plug! True, that as a country. we are SUV fan boys

Srini

[AKSarkar1]

The Ciaz was the modern day equivalent of the legendary Esteem, to be at least it shared the same DNA and unfortunate a similar fate in terms of ending (at least by the looks of it).

While the car might have become outdated now, when released it was quite a looker and feature loaded too, unlike most of the Marutis at that time. The 2nd generation Ciaz was an absolute looker, especially in the Sigma version, for me that was the starting of Maruti ushering itself into a new Era.

I feel the Ciaz could have been an all rounded enthusiast’s delight, only thing I that think it missed was power. I would have loved to see this car with the mighty 1.6 diesel.

[Aurora Zero]

Originally Posted by Doge

They are not useless, at least on the roads that I have seen. They have a decent advantage when driving over bad roads and water logged monsoons that a lot of India deals with. As much as I prefer the looks of a proper 3 box sedan to a crossover like a Creta, I don't think I can buy one as my only car, having a healthy GC is just much easier to live with and travel around in India.

I can understand your concern and have already used the word "mostly useless" in my message. As much as I have to agree from an economist standpoint considering the roads of India and many other factors affecting the car choices in the subcontinent, for an average family a pseudo SUV makes sense because it ticks most of the boxes for space and practicality and also fuel economy.

[Sensible_Speed]

Loved the Ciaz. It was so suave and easy going. And just completely reliable. It's sad Maruti didn't keep it updated. They could've atleast kept the electronics inside up-to-date. This car even towards the end, sold more than the Honda City, which was updated a mere 4 years ago, compared to the Maruti's 8. That diesel debacle was such a shame. The 1.5 diesel Maruti made, suited this car perfectly. It was very refined and friendly. Even the current engine gives one very little reason to complain. It is smooth, adequately powered and most importantly quiet. A letdown in the Ciaz is the cabin insulation. Every time I drive on the highway, I hear all the tire and wind noise in the world. But, overall, the Ciaz was a beautiful car to have. With annual maintenance costing a mere 5-8k, the Ciaz will surely be missed.

[glovins2004]

I have seen ciaz launch like a rocket and flying . Well, it will be a faded memory soon.

[ZenMaster]

We have to understand that Maruti as an organization has a totally different idea of what a Successful model looks like.

While Skoda/VW and Honda etc looks at their 2-3k volume and calls it a success, for Maruti at their scale of operation anything that sells below 5000 would probably be considered a failure and a sub-optimal use of resources.

So for them, spending 1000s of crores on a new Sedan that sells "only 3-4k" at max because customers largely buy SUVs doesn't make any logical sense. They'd be pouring crores into a dying category with no financial refurns. At the end of the day, its still a business and there is a reason why Honda-India is on its deathbed and Skoda/VW is barely afloat.

For those arguing that Maruti Suzuki should develop a Sedan just for the sake of it or to keep its brand image,
"Halo cars" are a completely foreign concept to the Japanese and Indian bean counters at MS.

And you cannot fault them either, whenever they have released a proper "enthusiast level" vehicle our market, we have always disappointed them. I can guarantee that people calling the Jimny overpriced would not have bought it even if it was cheaper because then they would compare it with other Sub-4 SUVs and complain about lack of features, comfort and space.

Let's see how long Maruti will continue to sell the Jimny in India

[Voodooblaster]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Curious as to which car would replace this car in the govt sarkaar category. Most of the sales that this car received was from govt officials.

Honda should either relaunch the 4th gen city or a stripped down version of the current 5th gen city at significantly lower prices to fill in this gap

Honda desperately needs volumes to survive

[avdhesh15]

Originally Posted by Voodooblaster

Honda should either relaunch the 4th gen city or a stripped down version of the current 5th gen city at significantly lower prices to fill in this gap

Thinking on similar lines, and to add that Honda should launch a "corporate" edition at the earliest which can be the go to car for the govt officials and perhaps the taxi segment. That could be a way for survival and pouncing on this gap in the market.

But then, we are talking about Honda

[carhead]

The brand definitely treated Ciaz like a Suzuki Arena car and not a Suzuki Nexa one.

Spot on. This car was a victim of changing customer preferences as well as lack of focus of the OEM. Heck this was even an aspirational car when launched!

[vedantpatkar17]

Originally Posted by carhead

[QUOTE The brand definitely treated Ciaz like a Suzuki Arena car and not a Suzuki Nexa one.

In fact, MS treated some Arena cars better than the Ciaz

[anjan_c2007]

Though the Maruti Ciaz was launched in 2014 as a rival to the Honda City and Hyundai Verna, it was the favourite Babu's car. A check up with Govt of India ( not PSU's but government departments only) purchases of C Class sedans ( excluding SUV's) will reveal that Ciaz was the only car purchased for politicians (Ministers) and for Secretary, Joint and Addl Secretary ranks. Even the senior most Generals to the Brigadier or equivalent ranks in the Armed Forces were provided with Ciaz sedans. Hence, after the Ambassadors and SX4's, Ciaz had been the replacement.





Now with the Ciaz due to become history, it will be interesting to watch out which car replaces it as the Minister's, Armed Forces top brass and Babu's car.

The sales had declined 34 % year on year basis.
2024 sales last quarter :-
October: 659 units
November: 597 units
December: 464 units

For its last lap of five years (2009-2014) Ambassadors were also selling 400 to 500 units catering to the Babu and taxi markets. The production stopped in May 2014. Hence relying on government purchases cannot sustain a car model.

[uditsharma01]

And yet again MS proves that they are incompetent. Incompetent in keeping alive an excellent product. Be it Ciaz, Kizashi, SX4, OG vitara. They were incompetent to phase out an excellent 1.5 DDiS. They are just happy to be mass cars producers and keep the numbers jacked. But today the user base is realizing and the tables have started to turn for the mass car segment too.

Ciaz was an amazing product. It was comfortable, reliable, and had nice performance too(the DDiS ones). All this to top up with a good long wheel base.

No one else but MS is to blame for letting a superb product die. No updates whatsoever and not to forget in 2018-19 it was best selling sedan in segment. People literally craved and waited for so long to get its update.

With this my respect for Honda has inclined more that they have kept City alive and kicking for almost 3 decades.

[07CR]

Good riddance actually. It's very boring car to drive and neither is very comfortable ( m talking about the short rear seats with limited under thigh support).

If I am in the market for a sedan, it could either be exciting like the 150 + ps Verna/Virtus or something stately like a Camry kind of car. Ciaz is neither of the two by a long shot.

[AJ56]

I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind buying it. 90hp motor made it so slow, you could grow a beard before it hit 100, coupled with the poor cabin ergonomics and dead top end made it a pain to drive, city or highway. 3 star crash rating with wafer thin sheet metal were the cherry on top.

Also, very poor high speed stability. Crosswinds take this thing out like a feather. Not surprising really as it’s the same weight as my Amaze (which is also very poor in crosswinds).