Maruti Suzuki will launch a new version of its highest selling car, the Maruti Alto, in August 2010. The new Alto will be powered by a 1-litre K-10 engine, also used in the Estilo, and will give a mileage of approximately 20.2 km/litre. The car will also be 125 mm longer and more spacious than the Alto’s existing version. It will be available in two variants expected to be priced between Rs 2.8 lakh and Rs 3.4 lakh. According to media reports, Maruti’s decision to launch an upgraded version of the Alto comes as a response to competitors’ plans to launch similar products. Both Tata Motors and Hyundai are planning to launch new compact cars priced at approximately Rs 2-3 lakh, and Maruti, with the new Alto, will already have an established product in the segment by the time the other two companies launch their cars.

The company is also planning to launch an automatic version the Maruti A-Star. The car will be launched within the next few months, and is likely to be much costlier than the existing variants of the A-Star. With the automatic version of the car, Maruti wants to cater to the growing number of medium to large city customers looking for automatic hatchbacks, which are few in number at present.