The Maruti Suzuki Dzire, now in its 4th gen, finally has its own visual identity. But is that all that's going for it?
The Maruti Suzuki Dzire, now in its 4th gen, finally has its own visual identity. But is that all that's going for it?
This is Maruti Suzuki’s second very important launch this year. The first was the Swift and now the Dzire is here to shake up the sedan market, or will it? Let’s dig into it. The Dzire is one of the most important nameplates for Maruti Suzuki, constantly being a top-selling model. And yes, Maruti has sold around 27 lakh Dzires in the country since 2008. Quite commendable and this new one seems like it has the potential to exponentially increase.
Now the first and the most important thing to talk about the Dzire is how it looks. Rather, how different it looks from the Swift now. It’s taken Maruti Suzuki 16 years to achieve this. And yes, the new Dzire does look good and its best angle is the front. It looks more premium and looks like it belongs in a segment above. You don’t get the same headlamp cluster as the Swift anymore. The wide headlamps do add a bit of sophistication and so does this chrome strip which extends into these LED DRLs. Then there’s this nice gloss black panel sitting above this massive grille. Move on to the side, you see the front fenders have this nice flared arch giving it a bit of muscle. I’m not too sure about the alloy wheel design though. But when you move back a bit and see the profile, the Dzire seems a bit out of proportion, doesn’t it? Especially the rear end, looks a bit stubby.
The taillamps are stubby too. They aren’t as wide as the headlamps and it seems like the Dzire employs a completely different design language for the rear as it did for the front. It’s as if there were two designers for both ends and both didn’t speak to each other before finalising the design. Odd, right? And the width of the car is more prominent from the front rather than any other angle, and as I said, it is the best angle for the Dzire.
Since this is the top-spec variant, you get a chrome strip on this black panel connecting the taillamps, the lower-spec variants will only have this black panel. Thankfully, there’s no lightbar connecting the taillamps which has become an industry trend lately.
To be brutally honest, this isn’t the worst-looking Dzire. That award goes to the second-gen Dzire, and the third-gen Dzire still looked more proportionate than this fourth-gen though. And Maruti Suzuki sacrificed the proportions to have better cabin space and that is evident in the rear seats.
The rear seat space is much better than before. There’s ample amounts of leg and knee room at the back but you get very few creature comforts. There’s just a drop down armrest, a couple of AC vents and a set of USB A and USB C ports, almost like the Swift.
The similarity to the Swift is more evident inside though, despite the fact that it has a black and beige theme instead of the all black. You still get a cabin that’s oriented towards the driver, made more evident with the angle of the touchscreen and the dash. There’s more chrome here, so clearly Maruti Suzuki is trying to make the Dzire feel more premium.
The cabin has too many colours and textures. Apart from the black and beige you also get silver, chrome and faux wood on the dashboard, and in the name of premium-ness, adding that diamond-like structure seems like a big miss! And while that 9-inch infotainment touchscreen you see here feels appropriate, this is however, only available on the top-spec trim, lower ones get a smaller 7-inch screen and the base doesn’t even have one! The ones without this large screen look horrible really. Other kit carried over from the Swift includes the semi-digital instrument cluster, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a wireless charger but more importantly, the Dzire gets a 360-degree camera which the Swift doesn’t yet. Could it come as an update later? Let’s see.
Now as standard, you get six airbags, anti-lock braking system, stability control, three-point seatbelts with reminders for all seats, ISOFIX child seat mounts, etc. And yes all of this is standard right from the base variant. Finally all of this has made the Dzire quite a safe vehicle as it achieved a commendable 5 star rating for adult safety and 4 stars for child safety from Global NCAP in crash test safety. Kudos to Maruti Suzuki!
| DISPLACEMENT | 1197 cc | 1197 cc (CNG) |
| MAX POWER | 80 bhp @ 5700 rpm | 69 bhp @ 4700 rpm |
| PEAK TORQUE | 112 Nm @ 4300 rpm | 102 Nm @ 2900 rpm |
| TRANSMISSION | 5-speed MT, 5-speed AMT | 5-speed MT |
No points for guessing what’s under the hood. Yes the new Dzire gets the same Z-Series 1.2-litre petrol engine as the Swift developing the same power and torque as the hatchback too. The gearboxes on offer haven’t changed too. You get a 5-speed manual and 5-speed AMT. No torque converter or CVT still. And unlike the Swift, the Dzire gets a CNG kit right from the start.
The Dzire feels less sporty than the Swift and that’s not a bad thing. It’s designed to take you from point A to point B and go on those occasional highway trips. Both jobs it can do adeptly. But don’t expect the AMT to be your friend. Its sole job is being as fuel-efficient as it can be. Like all AMTs, shifts aren’t smooth and in the name of efficiency, it shifts earlier than it should. But there is a distinct jerk felt when the gears shift and those should have been smoothened out. Put it in manual mode, though, and it holds the gears for as long as you want. Good for those overtaking manoeuvres.
Ride is a bit bumpy in the Dzire and clearly Maruti Suzuki hasn’t tuned the suspension to be quite plush. It's a little on the hard side so when driving on rumble strips you can feel them and the folks at the rear seat will feel a bounce too. So dealing with potholes is going to be very challenging.
The new Dzire is offered in four trims – LXI, VXI, ZXI and ZXI + – and unfortunately the base variant is quite barebones. You don’t get a touchscreen, it only gets steel wheels, no automatic climate control but you do get keyless entry, a rear defogger and all the important safety features.
And now for the most important question. The outgoing model was priced between ₹6.56 – 9.34 lakh and this one isn’t that much more expensive either. It is priced between ₹6.79 – 10.14 lakh and that’s good since pricing is a very crucial decision-making factor in this segment. And that comes in to play when you also consider the rivals. The starting price is more compared to the Tata Tigor and Hyundai Aura by up to ₹1.79 lakh but the Amaze is more expensive here. The top-end and even the CNG variants are more expensive than all its rivals.
So, has Maruti Suzuki done enough to make the Dzire a more premium offering. The fact that it doesn’t look like the Swift is a big plus and now has its own identity. But there is reason to worry because Honda is getting the new-gen Amaze on December 4 and that means competition is just around the corner. This will be a fight to watch!
Photography: Prashant Chaudhary
