2018 Maruti Suzuki Ertiga unveiled in Indonesia, India launch soon
After brochure images of the latest generation Suzuki Ertiga were leaked online, the car has been officially unveiled at the ongoing Indonesia International Motor Show.
Images of the next-generation 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ertiga has been leaked online which reveal the car's design in full. The front fascia is completely new and now comes with wider double-barrel trapezoidal projector headlamps. The grille is now slightly larger as well and has heavy chrome detailing. The front bumper is more aggressively styled with a few prominent creases around the foglamps. The bonnet contouring looks to have changed as well. The side profile sees few changes and the basic shape follows that of the earlier car. The major change is the third-row glass area which is now larger and has a blacked-out panel to reduce the visual mass of the rear end.
Like the front, the rear is completely redesigned as well. The biggest change is the LED taillamps, these are now larger and look very similar to the ones on the Honda WR-V. The rear windscreen is more raked than before and sits on top a new tailgate design as well. A chrome strip runs across the length of the tailgate while the bumper is a slim design which barely juts out of the body.
The car gets a redesigned interior as well, larger than the outgoing car. While it shares a number of components with the Swift and Ignis, the overall design of the dash is new. The colour scheme is a beige and wood deal. The top half is finished in grey and comes with vertical AC vents with horizontal lines running across the entire dash length on either side of Maruti's touchscreen infotainment system. Equipment levels will mimic those of the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift closely.
Mechanically, the most significant addition to the new Ertiga is a new K15B 1.5-litre petrol motor. This puts out 104PS and 138Nm. Increases of 13PS and 8Nm over the current car. This will be paired with either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto. In India, the 1.3-litre diesel motor should also be available. The car is based on the Heartect platform that also underpins the Swift, Baleno and Ignis. Fuel consumption for the Indonesian market model is rated at 18 kmpl for the manual and 16.7 kmpl for the automatic. The car sits on 15-inch alloy wheels
Dimensionally the new Ertiga is quite larger than the current car. The new car is 130 mm longer, 40 mm wider and 5 mm taller than its predecessor but the wheelbase remains the same at 2740 mm. The Indonesian-spec car has 180mm ground clearance but this will probably increase by 5mm for the Indian version. Boot space is 153 litres (up 18 litres from before) with all seats up, expandable to 550 litres (up 50 litres) with the third-row seats folded and 803 litres (up 68 litres) with all rear seats down.
The second-generation Indian market Maruti Suzuki Ertiga should launch in India around August 2018. The new Ertiga will primarily compete with the upcoming Mahindra U321 MPV, given that the Toyota Innova Crysta is now a more upmarket proposition. While the earlier car was a reasonably good seller for Maruti Suzuki, it was hampered by its lack of interior space. This new version will try to remedy that while providing a better-finished, more premium car altogether.