Daewoo Tico

Polish Daewoo TicoThe Daewoo Tico is a city car produced by the Korean automaker GM Daewoo from 1991 to 2001 and from 1996 to 2008 from the Egyptian Speranza.

The Tico was based on the 1988 Suzuki Alto. The car was equipped with a three-cylinder 796 cc S-TEC engine and had a five-speed manual transmission or three-speed automatic transmission. The Tico was exported to Europe, mainly to eastern markets. It was highly popular in such countries as: Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Poland and Czech Republic. It was also exported to Latin America where it also was named Daewoo Fino for some markets. It was especially popular in Peru.

Over its years of production, the Tico has seen serious modifications, mostly to the engine. Originally equipped with a carburetor (47 bhp), it was later upgraded to fuel injection, thus reaching Euro 2 pollution standard. Injection gave an increase of power. Some versions of the Tico in the Korean domestic market were powered on liquefied petroleum gas.

Daewoo assembled the Tico at the old Oltcit factory in Romania, and at the FSO factory in Poland.

In 2000, the Tico was replaced with a new car, the Daewoo Matiz. The Tico was sold alongside the Matiz until 2001.

Suzuki Alto HA22

The 5th generation Alto (HA12/22) was introduced in 1998. The styling was generally more rounded, the shape of the cabin showing the Alto's relationship with the new Kei. The 658-cc engine was produced in a version without a turbocharger, joining the turbocharged version and the 657-cc engines. Several derivatives were produced from this generation. Suzuki produced two "classic-style" versions: the Alto C with a deep chrome grille and a curious headlamp arrangement by which circular main lamps were joined with ovoid sidelights and indicators, which was shared with the Alto Works; and the Alto C2 which had separate headlamps and sidelights and a wider grille. Mazda also sold the standard Alto as the Carol, and Mitsuoka used the Carol as a basis for their Ray.

Maruti Alto

The Maruti Alto is the Indian-built Suzuki Alto version, manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India. It was launched in the local Indian market on September 27, 2000 although the Alto nameplate was very successfully being used to export the Maruti Zen to Europe from India since around 1994 having captured over 40% market share in Belgium and 33% in Netherlands by 1998. It is the best-selling hatchback in India. Since 2006, It is India's largest selling car and crossed the 1 million production figure in February 2008 becoming the 3rd Maruti model to cross the million mark in India after Maruti 800 and Maruti Omni and 4th overall joining Hyundai Santro. Besides being exported to Europe from 1994-2004, it has also been exported to several other countries.

Specifications
The Alto is powered by a 796 cc gasoline engine with 3 cylinder, 4 valves per cylinder MPFI engine with 32bit ECM.

Maximum Power: 47 PS (35 kW)
Acceleration 0-100 km/h: approximately 20 seconds
Top Speed: 137 km/h (85 mph)

Variants
The Alto is offered in the following variants

Base model - (non-ac, launched in 2004[9], Mumbai price approx. 2.4 lakh Rs. as of December 2008)
LX - Base model with A/c, cup holders, fabric seats , remote fuel lid opener and few small changes, Mumbai price approx. 2.7-2.75 lakh Rs. as of December 2008
LXi - Same as LX with power steering, Mumbai price 2.85-2.9 lakh Rs. as of December 2008
There used to be a VX/VXi model with a 4-cylinder 1061 cc engine (64 bhp/80 Nm torque) launched in April 2001. This has now been discontinued. But this VX model is still sold in certain European countries. The Alto VX model also featured a tachometer which was absent in LX model. All models are equipped with 5-speed manual transmission.

The popularity of the Alto has increased over the past few years, mainly due to the reduction in prices. This reduction in prices has mainly come in due to the reduction in excise duty over time. Alto was the first brand In Indian Domestic Automotive History to sell over 200,000 units in a single financial year, the last 100,000 units being sold in 5 months. Alto was the only brand to sell over 22,000 units in a single month, making it the largest selling car in India.

Maruti Suzuki A-Star

The 7th Generation is known in India as the Maruti Suzuki A-Star, but is also known as the Suzuki Celerio or Nissan Pixo in other places worldwide. It was launched in December 2008 by the Indo-Japanese auto maker Maruti Suzuki. It is the next generation Suzuki Alto and is exported worldwide. It is available in European markets as Nissan Pixo. The car was rolled out to the Indian customers in December 2008 and exports began in April 2009. A-Star means Alto-Star.

It comes in three variants - LXi, VXi and ZXi.

The initial expected prices in the Indian market are INR345,000 (ex-showroom Delhi) for the LXI, INR372,000 for the VXI and INR406,000 for the ZXI. With this price tag, the car is targeted at customers with budgets somewhere between the Zen Estilo and the Swift.

With a totally new body and engine, Maruti hopes to bring freshness to the Indian car market, of which it already holds a major share. Initial reviews have been positive. It has a fresh new dashboard, with a unique protruding tachometer besides the usual meter cowl (only in the ZXi trim). It is the fourth model after Swift, SX4 and Grand Vitara which has helped Maruti to make stylish cars, something which it was unknown for during older models.

Though the drive is comfortable for the front row, rear seating is a little small for taller passengers. The interiors have been reported to be a bit cramped as compared to the Hyundai i10, its closest competitor. It has the new K10B series engine, which Suzuki says is technically highly developed and gives a balance of fuel efficiency and power. The ZXi is the fully loaded version with all the expected features like power windows, central lock, ABS, rear wiper, fog lamps, CD player, airbags etc.

It is claimed to be the only car which will be available in 200 variants. It has won Best Small car award 2009 from AutocarIndia and Topgear. Technology of the Year from Overdrive.

On 23rd February,2010 Maruti Suzuki announced a recall of about 100,000 cars due to a fault discovered in the fuel pump of the car.