Rumour: Maruti Suzuki Estilo discontinued?

Despite Maruti Suzuki's continued efforts, the Estilo hatchback has been a perennial slow seller for India's largest car maker. The knives could finally be out for the Estilo's jugular. AutoCarIndia reports that the Estilo has been discontinued from Maruti Suzuki's car range in India. However, the Estilo continues to be featured on Maruti's official website. Therefore, official word from Maruti Suzuki is awaited as a final confirmation. 

The car, a replacement to the erstwhile Zen, arrived into India with a tall boy design, which was completely at odds with the low slung design that the Zen (international Alto) featured. Also, Maruti persisted with the Zen moniker, prefixed to the Estilo, to ride on the brand value and recognition that the Zen has in the Indian car market. However, the odd ball styling of the Estilo, again at odds to the cutesy jelly bean design of the Zen, meant that the former had few takers in India despite the practicality of its "tall boy" design. 

The Estilo initially featured a 1.1 liter-4 cylinder petrol engine, that used to do duty in cars such as the WagonR and the Alto 1.1. When Maruti Suzuki facelifted the Estilo a couple of years ago, this engine was replaced by the 1 liter K-Series petrol motor, which features a three cylinder layout. The K-Series motor also got a CNG-Petrol dual fuel option on the Estilo. Along with the engine change, Maruti Suzuki gave the Estilo a restyling, and also dropped the Zen prefix.

All these measures failed to prop up sales of the Estilo, which was priced and positioned close to the illustrious selling WagonR (Certain variants of the WagonR are priced just about 10,000 rupees higher than corresponding variants of the Estilo). With Maruti Suzuki launching the Sting Ray model of the WagonR, positioned slightly above the regular variant of the hatchback in terms of pricing, the time seems apt for the discontinuation of the Estilo.

In the coming months, the A-Star could meet a similar fate as the next generation global Alto (code-named YL7) is due for a launch early next year. The YL7 is expected to replace the A-Star globally, and could feature petrol and diesel engine options. Meanwhile, the discontinuation of the Estilo could result in hefty discounts at the dealer level. A similar situation had transpired when the likes of the Honda Jazz and the Skoda Fabia were discontinued, and the Estilo is likely to follow the same path.