Maruti Suzuki launches its hybrid car Ciaz SHVS

Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) launched the all new Maruti Suzuki Ciaz SHVS, which stands for Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki on Tuesday. This will be the country's first mass market hybrid saloon car.

The prices of the car start at Rs 8.23 lakhs and go up to 10.17 lakhs. (Ex-Showroom Delhi)

The prices are introductory, which means they shall be revised in sometime. The new car comes with a 1.3 litre engine, which Maruti claims will provide a mileage of 28.09 kmpl.

The Ciaz variant's prices include a subsidy worth Rs 13,000 for hybrid cars, which had taken effect from April 1. This subsidy was announced in the Union budget for 2015-16.

This subsidy will help offset the high import cost of the technology, which is being provided by Maruti. An excise benefit has also been provided by the government, with excise duties being 12.5% instead of 24% under electric and hybrid vehicle policy of FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India). This will help the company save over Rs one lakh on the cars ticket price.

"There will be a gradual expansion of this technology and will also be used for petrol models in the future," said Keinchi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO MSIL, talking about expanding this hybrid technology to other cars in the Maruti stable.

This car shall be sold from Maruti's existing dealerships and there are no plans to sell this car under the Nexa dealerships. Maruti had recently opened Nexa dealerships to sell its high end cars.