The New Maruti Dzire to be shorter, sleeker and cheaper

Sometime around this time last year, Yahoo! India had brought you the spied pictures of the 2011 Maruti Swift. It's almost a year and there's no clue about the launch date of the car. While everyone is wondering if Maruti is actually planning to launch it amid speculations that the launch might happen in July or August, here comes the spied picture of the new Dzire.

The picture released by Autocar clearly indicates that the new Dzire looks much alike the new Swift, the same way the current models resemble each other. The swept-back headlights and tail lamps, the two prominent features of the 2011 Swift, are carbon-copied to the Dzire as well.

However, the most significant and interesting piece of information the spied picture gives out is that the new Dzire has gone under the knifeand now falls under the sub-4 meters category. At a length of less than four metres and engine capacities under 1.2 and 1.5 litres for petrol and diesel, respectively, the car would enjoy benefits of a low excise duty of just 10%, as opposed to 22% on bigger cars, says Autocar. This will translate into cost benefit of around Rs. 30,000 to 40,000 to the customer.

Now, please don't ask me about the launch date of the new Dzire. Considering the uncertainty over the new Swift launch, there's no chance of us seeing it any time before the 2012 Auto Expo.