[Aditya]

Last month, we had reported that the base and mid variants of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio will receive more safety features (click here to read report). Now, the company has announced that it will offer dual airbags and ABS as an option on all variants of the hatchback. The addition of these features is expected to make it a safer car.



The Celerio was launched in India in February 2014. It has been a popular car and Maruti consistently manages to sell more than 6,500 units every month. The AMT version of the car has proven to be a big hit in the country due to the stress-free drive that it offers.



Earlier this month, Maruti Suzuki announced that it was offering dual airbags and ABS as an option in all variants of the WagonR, Stingray and Swift hatchbacks and Dzire compact sedan. All variants of the Ciaz got and optional safety pack in September.

Prices (ex-showroom, Delhi):

Petrol

• LXi MT (O) - Rs. 4,16,807
• LXi AMT (O) - Rs. 4,66,548
• VXi MT (O) - Rs. 4,46,830
• VXi AMT (O) - Rs. 4,96,564
• ZXi AMT (O) - Rs. 5,19,423

Diesel

• LDi (O) - Rs. 4,91,808
• VDi (O) - Rs. 5,21,830

CNG

• Green VXi (O) - Rs. 5,04,189

Note: Green VXi (O) comes with dual airbags only

[landcruiser123]

I've seen quite a few threads where a person is buying an Automatic car. He then sees that the Maruti Celerio doesn't offer dual airbags and ABS in the AMT variants and then decides to strike the car of his list.

Looks like the management of Maruti is continuously going through the threads at Team BHP and they decided that it has to be made optional. Good move by MSIL.

[Viju]

It is good to see MSIL moving faster according to market needs than it used to. When the Celerio was launched, it's USP was the AMT, but they held back from offering a fully loaded version (ZXi) with AMT. When they did launch the ZXi AMT, they held back from offering the additional safety kit. Now with the ZXi AMT (O), I think a lot of folks have a decent option if they are looking to buy a well loaded, small automatic car with basic safety kit.

[4x4addict]

Salut Maruti.

This is an excellent move on your part !!

I wish they had made this decision two months back, as I just had to spent 5.75 lakhs on the OTR for a Nissan Micra Active with ABS & Air Bags. I wanted a cheaper option, and the LXi MT Option would have been just perfect.

[saket77]

So, now it seems a concrete strategy of Maruti to offer airbag/ABS variants on the entire range of its cars. I am sure that this will be the norm across all Maruti cars and soon the industry will also offer products on similar lines.

Good to see that our market is developing. I am quite sure that soon crash testing will also be a norm and the manufacturers will offer strong export quality shell structure here in India too, putting a rest to safety debates.

In short, a very welcome move; not only because we now have airbags in B segment Marutis, but also because it takes our market forward.

Regards,
Saket.

[The Rationalist]

At last it took Maruti to bell the cat. No wonder Maruti rules the game. Now I can see others running to offer Automatics and safety features in base versions. It still beats me why these morons can't try different and lead for a change.

[Karthik Chandra]

Ahh!!!

The leader is taking the industry in the right path and is leading by example. There is absolutely no choice for others but to follow suit. Great move by MSIL, they keep introducing new variants, new models, optional safety packs and are in the crux of things in the industry.

Good that they have realized that the Maruti Suzuki tag alone will not do wonders anymore and are acting on the required parameters to ensure the mass do not reject MSIL on safety front.

It is easy for a company holding about 50 % of the market to be complacent, but MSIL is consistently showing why it is the leader.

Kudos to the management

BTW, the celerio looks good in the picture posted by Aditya, elongated pic gives a clue as to how a normal looking car can be made to look good

[NPV]

Good move by the folks at Maruti Suzuki , close on the heels of such an announcement for the Swift, Dzire, etc.

Now I wish this will be extended to the Alto, at least the K10 - if done in a month or so, it will be great timing to get our K10 as the replacement for the M800.

EDIT:If the folks at Maruti are reading this, hope this wish of mine will be fulfilled soon

[GTO]

Originally Posted by saket77

I am sure that this will be the norm across all Maruti cars and soon the industry will also offer products on similar lines.

This is really the most important development. When the dominant player does something, everyone else has to follow.

A big step in the right direction. 10 years back, you could count hatchbacks offering ABS + Airbags on your fingertips. Even when they did, it was only on the topmost variants. That's about to change.

In another couple of years, crash-testing norms will come and safety aids like ESP will be as commonplace as ABS is today . On the terrorising Indian highways, God knows you need all the safety you can get.

[shankar.balan]

Its not about the manufacturers being smart or dumb otherwise.
It is about them not doing something for the market unless and until they absolutely have to and have no choice left.
In this way these manufacturers are able to "manage" the show with less capital expenses, input costs and ultimately, higher profits.

We in India have been prey to the "laissez faire" attitude for centuries, whether from the various people who ruled us at various points in time, or from the consumer marketeers and manufacturers who serve us with the goods and services that we buy and use.

The worm is only now beginning to turn... signs of good times ahead for the consumers!

Think on it, in these last 20 years, we have seen (in the retail industry at least) that the Power Balance has shifted first from the manufacturer to the retailer and now, from the retailer to the consumer.

The same thing is going to happen across various industries including the Automotive Industry and this is a good thing too! Ultimately the guy who pays the bills for the product should be able to call the shots!

[gixxerboy]

The best part about this initiative is that the current line up is not hampered hence it does not translate into extra burden on the customers pocket. Wish economies of scale come into play and a giant like MSIL is able to offer abs + airbags as standard equipment.