Maruti Suzuki Autocar Young Driver Contest 2012

With great responsibility comes a great prize! Here’s your chance to win a Maruti Suzuki A-Star!

Maruti Suzuki and Autocar India join hands again this year for their nationwide hunt for the safest driver on Indian roads. The innovative concept, which is in its fourth successful year, has been encouraging the culture of safe driving especially amongst the Indian youth. This competition tests the competitors' knowledge of traffic rules, awareness of road safety along with their real-world driving skill. This contest is open to all individuals, between the age of 18 and 30, with a valid Indian driving license. Every year, the winner of the contest is not only crowned the Maruti Suzuki – Autocar Young Driver 2012 Ambassador for safe driving but also takes home a brand new Maruti Suzuki A-Star.

To register online, please log on to: www.youngdriver.in

Maruti Suzuki - Autocar Young Driver 2012 contest will be held in four phases:

Phase 1 – Participants who have registered on www.youngdriver.in or via Facebook.com can take the Online Theory Test in the form of a quiz. They will be tested on their knowledge of traffic rules, awareness of road safety & driving regulations. The contestants will be selected on the basis of the highest scores in the least time taken for completing the quiz. The last date for this phase is 8th June 2012. Contestants who make it to the next round will be intimated via e-mail, SMS or notified by Facebook.

Phase 2 – A Skill test will be conducted in this round, which will comprise of a Driving test, at any one of the Maruti Driving Schools (MDS) spread across 42 major cities of the country. The selected contestants can take up their skill test at any of the Maruti Driving School in their region as per the schedule allocated by organizers. Based on candidates' performance in the skill tests at the MDS, 20 finalists will be identified for 3rd round." This phase will start on 13th June 2012 and will be held till 30th of June 2012.

Phase 3 – The 20 finalists will be flown in to Delhi for the Grand Finale. In this round, candidates will be evaluated at the Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR), New Delhi, under the supervision of IDTR instructors and judges from Autocar India. Candidates will be evaluated on 20 parameters pertaining to safety, vehicle control, theory knowledge and its application while driving.” Contestants shortlisted for Grand Finale will be contacted shortly.

Phase 4 – The winner will be crowned the ‘Maruti Suzuki – Autocar Young Driver of the year 2012’, he will also become the Ambassador of Safe Driving and will take home a brand new Maruti Suzuki A-Star!

Maruti Suzuki unveils 'Ertiga'

Maruti Suzuki unveils 'Ertiga'

Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Car market leader, announced it’s much awaited entry in the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment by unveiling its new Utility Vehicle ‘Ertiga’. It’s the industry’s first Life Utility Vehicle strengthening the product portfolio of the company and also creates an all new Life Utility segment at an attractive price point.

Ertiga is designed primarily for India at Suzuki, Japan. The Life Utility Vehicle represents aspirations of young urban Indian families that are active and connected. It displays Suzuki’s ability to bring compactness, style and high fuel efficiency to Utility Vehicles. India will be the first market to sell Ertiga, followed by other South East Asian markets.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. S. Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO said, “Ertiga is a major step forward for Maruti Suzuki. Many urban families in India are now looking for a vehicle that offers more space and flexibility than a sedan, without being bulky, bland and expensive like a Utility Vehicle. These families are currently having to compromise, and settle for a vehicle which does not meet their lifestyle needs. The Ertiga is designed for these customers. It is another example of our ability to pack power, performance, space and features in a compact package.”

The Ertiga displays the distinct UV outline, but under the monocoque frame lies the car DNA which makes Ertiga special. Ertiga carries forward the sporty, dynamic, bold and aggressive design philosophy of Swift platform.

Under the hood of the petrol variant lies the all new powerful K-Series, 1373cc VVT (K14B) engine. The diesel variant is powered by the highly acclaimed 1248cc DDiS VGT engine.

Ertiga is offered in six trim levels LXi, VXi, ZXi (Petrol) & LDi, VDi, ZDi (Diesel) and seven colours: Serene Blue, Ecru Beige, Dusky Brown, Firebrick Red, Superior White, Granite Grey, Silky Silver.

Introductory Price Ex-showroom, Delhi (Rs in lakh) Variant Price Variant Price Ertiga LXi 5.89 Ertiga LDi 7.30 Ertiga Vxi 6.60 Ertiga VDi 7.90 Ertiga Zxi 7.30 Ertiga ZDi 8.54 Check back for more information.

Suzuki ‘up in the clouds’ – highest altitude workshop in India

Maruti Suzuki already boasts the widest sales and service network in India and has now opened a new outlet in one of the most remote areas and at the highest altitude of any car workshop at 3,740 metres (12,200 feet) above sea level, even further up into the clouds than its previous high altitude workshop at 3,505 metres.

The new workshop, situated at Kaza in Himachal Pradesh on the North East of the Continent is situated next to the highest petrol station in the world and has been opened to cater for the growing number of customers in the Region as well as the increasing number of Tourist traffic there.

The areas around Kaza are cut off from the rest of the World for a good four months of the year and the workshop will be able to support a local pool of 700 Suzuki vehicles and drastically reduce the challenging 150 mile journey customers previously had to make to get their car repaired.

Maruti Suzuki retains a market share of more than 50 per cent of passenger vehicles sold across India and is very keen to establish the importance of developing more aftersales outlets in as many places as possible to support growth in new car sales. In 2010 sales volume reached 1.1 million units and is set to grow to 1.7 million annually in 2013.

Maruti Suzuki currently has 900 new car dealers and 2,992 service workshops in India serving 1,406 Cities. Some of the larger City dealers maintain over 250 cars per day in their 50 bay service centres with the monthly service load across the network averaging one million cars. As the road infrastructure is now developing at a fast rate, the longer term plan for Maruti Suzuki is to have service outlets every 25km across India and build further on the brands 11 consecutive years of ranking first place in the J.D .Power customer satisfaction awards.