The Suzuki Celerio was recently unveiled in Nepal at the NADA Autoshow 2014. The Celerio is based on the Suzuki A-Wind concept, which was unveiled at the Thailand Motor Show back in November ’13 and replaces the A-Star. Manufactured and exported from the Indo-Japanese automaker’s plant in Gurgaon, the car come with one engine and two transmission options. We put the Suzuki Celerio through thick and thin to see if it has what it takes to be a success in the Nepalese market.

EXTERIOR

The Celerio effortlessly invites compliments. Curves make a car and the Celerio has them flowing in and out in a stirring new design that Suzuki calls CICO Styling i.e. ‘Curve In Curve Out’ styling. From certain angles, you will also notice the similarity to the Zen Estilo and Alto 800. The car looks good with the large chrome strip in the front and sharp aggressive headlights. The Celerio measures 3600 mm in length, 1600 mm in width and 1560 mm in height with a wheelbase of 2425 mm. The Celerio is a slightly taller hatchback yet its design is proportionate for a hatchback standing high. Overall styling is clean and neutral. The pull type door handles give it a nice touch and also feel good to use. The LXi and VXi trim don’t come with body coloured rear view mirrors and door handles while the ZXi also gets turn indicators on the rear view mirrors.

INTERIOR

Suzuki has done a fabulous job with the interiors of the Celerio. Compared to the A-Star, there is a massive leap in terms of dashboard design and that’s solely because the company has lifted interior bits from its flagship hatchback. The U-shaped centre console houses an integrated audio system with USB, AUX, CD, etc with manual AC controls. The dashboard has dual tone black and beige with neat contrasting silver inserts around the centre console and side AC vents.

The Celerio has decent space inside the cabin and the company has managed to squeeze a lot of interior room. The gear lever is close to the dashboard liberating space near the handbrake and the doors have decent sized pockets too for additional storage. Suzuki has also given a much better boot space of 235 litres in the Celerio. A generous amount of light comes into the cabin and things don’t get claustrophobic at all. These factors combined make the Celerio feel acceptably roomy. Rear legroom is decent and headroom is in abundance even for a six-footer. The Celerio uses fixed headrests on all seats that hamper comfort at the rear although the front seats are quite comfortable. The rear seats can be either dropped completely or can also be split in 60:40 arrangements. All in all it strikes all the right cords for an anticipating buyers in this segment. It clear that the recent car buyers in the local market pick the one that’s practical yet also stands as a symbol of their status. On that note the Celerio should be one of the favorite picks for the targeted buyers.

SAFETY

In the ZXi (Optional), the Celerio comes with a host of safety and security features such as front airbags, ABS, rear centre seat belt, head light leveler, rear window wiper and washer, high mounted stop lamp, front ventilated disc, immobilizer, child-proof rear door locks, front wipers with intermittent, front washer and rear window demister. However, ZXi trim and safety features (ABS & Airbags) are unavailable with the Auto Gear Shift variants.

PERFORMANCE

The Celerio’s light kerb weight of 830 kilos results in peppy performance. We drove the Celerio on highways & fast corners alike, and it handled them competently. By no means does the car feel slow or sluggish, in both Manual and Auto Gear Shift guises. The Auto Gear Shift however was more fun to drive than the manual transmission. The car feels as if it was designed for the AMT and the Manual transmission was an add-on later.

The Celerio comes with Mcpherson Struts with coil springs in the front with coupled torsion beam axle with coil springs at the rear. The car handles really well and absorbs all the harshness and bumps on the roads pretty well. The steering is accurate and well weighted even at high speeds. The car has been designed keeping city driving in mind and did not touch any of the speed bumps even the large ones.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine Type: 3-cylinder, SOHC, K-Next

Displacement: 998cc

Fuel Type: Petrol

Maximum Power: 68 HP @ 6000 rpm

Maximum Torque: 90 Nm @ 3500 rpm

Transmission: 5-Speed Manual, 5-Speed Auto Gear Shift

DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT

Length: 3600 mm

Width: 1600 mm

Height: 1560 mm

Wheelbase: 2425 mm

Ground Clearance: 165 mm

Suspension Front: MacPherson Strut

Suspension Rear: Torsion Beam

Brakes Front: Ventilated Discs

Brakes Rear: Drum

Kerb Weight: 830 kg

Turning Radius: 4.7m

Boot Volume: 235 litres

Fuel Tank: 35 Litres

PRICE

Celerio LXI: NRs 19,99,000

Celerio VXI: NRs 21,49,000

Celerio ZXI: NRs 22,99,000

Celerio VXI (AMT): NRs 23,79,000

Celerio ZXI (Optional): NRs 24,49,000

CONTACT

Arun Intercontinental Traders

Jhamsikhel, Kathmandu, Nepal

Ph No: 5547165, 5547166