It was 2012 Auto Expo, where Maruti Suzuki unveiled a spanking new compact SUV concept called as XA-Alpha. Suddenly, there was a renewed interest in the company and expectations flew from one year to the other, however there is no update on that till now.
What was expected was that the company will launch a new compact SUV sometime in 2016 which would resemble the XA-Alpha and here we have the first ever production spyshot of the Maruti’s upcoming new Compact SUV which is codenamed as YBA courtesy Autocar India.
Surprisingly, the car we see here looks more of the iV4 than the XA-Alpha per se but it does look interesting, of whatever we can make out from the limited glimpse we have of the product. It appears to have double barell headlamps, a flatter roofline, chrome-laden ( š ) grille, and a wide airdam.
The camouflaged mule is carrying stylish alloy wheels and tyres which appear to be 14 or 15 inchers. With the design of the wheel arches and the handsome space left in between, this YBA appears to carry Maruti’s legacy of providing under-tyred cars forward.
The YBA aka XA-Alpha aka iV4 will be a sub 4 meter compact SUV slugging it out against the Ecosport and there seems to be a provision of exposed rear spare wheel as well. Autocar reports that Maruti may unveil the YBA’s production version at the 2016 Auto Expo and surprisingly it could be called as iV4 in its commercial guise.
Why will MarutiĀ not use the already established brand name of XA-Alpha is beyong our understanding, at this point. Whatever this car will be, it will take away the crown of the most delayed product launch, possibly, obviously apart from the Tatas!
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too little too late. Ford enjoyed the diminanace as there is no competetor for ecosport that too with 1.0 ltr. Ecoboost Engine. Honda can do it if they launch1.0 turbo charged 140ps. Engine which will bring arrogance of Ford Ecosport down.