Maruti Suzuki has finally launched the facelift of Ciaz mid-size sedan for 2018. Along with many exterior and interior changes the Ciaz facelift also introduce Suzuki’s new 1.5-litre petrol engine in India, which replaces the previous 1.4-litre unit. The facelifted Ciaz has been launched At a starting price of Rs. 8.19 lakh and goes up to 10.97 lakh for top trim.

The new facelifted Ciaz comes with the choices of petrol-manual, petrol-automatic and diesel-manual. The manual version of petrol ranges from Rs 8.19 lakh to Rs. 9.97 lakh and manual version of diesel ranges from Rs 9.19 lakh to Rs. 10.97 lakh and both are available in 4 variants – namely, Sigma, Delta, Zeta and Alpha. The automatic version of petrol starts from Rs 9.80 lakh and goes up to Rs.10.97 lakh and is available in the Delta, Zeta and Alpha trims.

The facelift of Ciaz gets a new designed grille with chrome garnish on higher-spec trims, and LED headlamps and tail-lamps, new front and rear bumpers and 16-inch alloy wheels on the top-spec variant. The dual-front airbags and ABS are standard across all variants. It also gets rear parking sensors, speed alert system and seat belt reminders for the driver and front passenger.

The biggest update on the Ciaz is the new petrol engine. The older 92hp, 1.4-litre petrol engine has has been replaced with a larger 1.5-litre K15B four-cylinder motor with micro-hybrid tech. The new engine is mated with a five-speed manual and a four-speed automatic transmission. The new engine generates a max power of 104 bhp and a peak torque of 138Nm, with an ARAI-certified fuel economy of 21.56kpl for the manual version and 20.28kpl for the automatic. The diesel engine is powered by the same 1.3-litre which generates max power of 90 bhp and a peak torque of 200 Nm.

The Ciaz facelift will compete with the rivals the Hyundai Verna (Rs 7.90-12.86 lakh), the Toyota Yaris (Rs 8.75-14.07 lakh) and the Honda City (Rs 8.77-13.88 lakh).