The Maruti S-Cross petrol is likely to be launched later this month or early next month
With BS6 emission standards pushing cost-benefit balance of diesel engines into unfavourable territory, Maruti Suzuki has decided to phase out diesel variants across its product portfolio. This means, the diesel-only models of the BS4 era are in for a petrol engine transplant.
The Maruti Vitara Brezza, the segment leader of the sub-4m crossover segment, recently made a successful transformation to petrol, and it is now the S-Cross’ turn to do the same. The Maruti S-Cross petrol BS6 was showcased at the Auto Expo and was supposed to go on sale sometime around April 2020 but we all know why it has been delayed.
As expected, the petrol engine of choice for all Maruti cars above the B-segment is the 1.5-liter naturally aspirated unit that has been upgraded to BS6. The fuel economy deficiency of this motor against the now discontinued 1.3-liter DDiS will be compensated to some extent by the Smart Hybrid system. Dubbed as SHVS, it is a mild-hybrid system with an Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) and an additional battery. The system offers start-stop functionality and torque assist, and is claimed to improve the fuel efficiency by 10%.
The 1.5-liter motor has 105 hp and 138 Nm of torque. The defunct diesel variant used to make 90 hp and 200 Nm of torque. The Maruti S-Cross petrol BS6 will be available with a 5-speed manual transmission and a 4-speed torque converter transmission.
The leaked sales training document suggests that Maruti is treating the popular Kia Seltos as the S-Cross’ primary rival. The slide highlights the crossover’s LED projector headlamps, rear disc brakes, automatic climate control, telescopic adjustment for steering wheel and 60:40 split rear seats.
Usually, the sales training for a new model takes place just a few weeks ahead of the launch. So, one can expect the Maruti S-Cross petrol to be introduced sometime later this month or early next month. Apart from the Kia Seltos, the S-Cross will also rival the new Hyundai Creta and the upcoming production version of Skoda Vision IN.
As far as prices are concerned, the petrol S-Cross is expected to be a in the same ballpark as the old diesel model which retailed between INR 8.80 lakh to INR 11.43 lakh. Being the oldest model in its segment and the lack of diesel engine are expected to make it challenging for the S-Cross but Maruti surely knows how to sell a car.
