Maruti Suzuki New Alto K10 - Road Test Review

Report: P.Tharyan, Photography: Mohd Nasir

In the 1980s an English pop singer Paul Young stole the hearts of millions with his song “Love of the Common People”.  The lyrics of the song went something like this “….'cause she's living in the love of the common people, smile's from the heart of a family man. Daddy's gonna buy you a dream to cling to, Mama's gonna love you just as much as she can and she can…”  That’s Maruti Suzuki, for the millions of Indians. It’s the love of the common people in India and it’s a dream millions in India cling to. The dream has just got a bit more hip with the company offering you an automatic in the small car. An Automatic Gear Shift (AGS) or an automated manual transmission is now driving the new Maruti Suzuki Alto K10.The car also comes with a 5 speed gear box, all this mated to a 998cc engine. There is also a CNG variant.

Basically, the small car comes with a manual transmission (in the Lx, Lxi, Vxi and Vxi (Optional)), an Automated Gear Shift (offered in the Vxi variant) and CNG (offered in the Lxi). The AGS is the same one that bought fame and success to the Celerio. Even Maruti Suzuki was surprised when the demand for automatic Celerio surged, the moment it went up for sale. They really could not cope with the rush. The Alto is anyway a success story for Maruti Suzuki, outselling all other cars in any segment, More than 2.6 million Altos (both with 800cc as well as 1000cc engines) are the love of the common people and the K10 powered Alto launched in 2010 accounts for a sizeable 40pc of the total Alto sales. 

Motown India got to drive the new Alto K10 for a short distance from Chandigarh in Haryana to Timber Trail in Panchkula and back, a total distance of barely 60 odd kilometres. But before I recount the drive experience, let me explain to you what the different variants of the new Alto K10 have to offer to the consumers. It’s only the top end Vxi (Optional) that has a Driver airbag, keyless entry and body-side moulding as standard fitments. But what the Vxi and the Vxi (Optional) have in common as standard features are a tachometer, B-pillar black out tape, full wheel covers and silver accent. The silver accent is there on the side louvres, steering wheel, inside door handle, console garnish ring, panel instrument cluster garnish and door trim arm rest.  All the variants share as standard features things like high mounted stop light, immobilizer, fuel lid opener, rear console bottle holders, instrument panel tray, etc. Barring the Lx variant, all others have features like chrome front grill and body-coloured bumper.

The moment you set your eyes on the new Alto K10, you do not realise that the car has become a wee bit smaller in length yet has become a lot more spacious inside plus it has a better head room. Seating for the rear passenger too has got better with smart interior designing of the front seats! The styling has definitely improved and has become lot more contemporary, especially with the smart front chrome grill. Engineers at Maruti Suzuki have worked hard on the interior as well as exterior of the car to make it a lot classier. Even the engine compartment has undergone changes with a lot of light weighting thrown in. While the front grill makes the car look chic, the newly designed tail light makes the rear look smart. The sweptback headlamps add to the richness of the front looks. It’s a new tail light cluster that has been fitted in the new Alto K10. Sideways, subtle changes have been made to it with sharp aerodynamic lines making it look leaner and agile. 

Step inside and you are treated to a fresh looking dashboard that makes the car seem much wider. The car now comes with a new piano finish stereo. The dual tone interior adds to the smart ambience. Like I mentioned, the speedometer now comes with an RPM meter and the silver accents all around simply enhances the over interior looks. There are a lot of small storage spaces, including dual cup holders, bottle holder and storage box.  The new Alto K10 now comes with front power windows and the buttons are, on popular demand, fixed near the gear lever area, between the front two seats. I simply detest that positioning. Are not power windows supposed to be near the window?  There are other conveniences like internally adjustable ORVMs, rear console bottle holder etc.

An automatic (AGS) in the K10 has simply added to the overall appeal of the car. Automatics are no more feared by Indians; rather it has become extremely popular among the expensive cars. Now it’s time for the common man to enjoy the benefits of an automatic gear shift. The moment you step on the accelerator the car gets into effortless action. This AGS also has a manual option, in case one wants to move out of the automatic mode and shift to manual mode. It’s bound to excite a lot of people in the country who have never ever dreamt of driving an automatic one day. The Alto continues to impress you with its agility and road handling. It’s a small car that not only drives fast and smartly but handles well in congested traffic. The Alto has proved that it’s Prince Charming, having sold so many cars in India. With this new Alto K10, it will simply prove that the common man has no love lost for their Prince Charming!