THE BEST SELLING SEDAN IS BETTER NOW?

India’s best-selling sedan, with 2.7 million units sold over the past 16 years, the Maruti Suzuki Dzire has etched itself into the nation’s automotive fabric. One in every two sedans sold in India bears the unmistakable Dzire badge, making it the fourth highest-selling car in Indian history.

- Saneet Dsilva

MARUTI SUZUKI DZIRE ₹6.79 lakh to ₹10.14 lakh (ex-showroom)

With that legacy on its shoulders, expectations are naturally high for the fourth-generation Dzire. Maruti Suzuki has invested an impressive Rs 1,000 crore heavily, aiming to elevate the Dzire’s appeal and push it beyond its utilitarian image into a ‘premium’ product proposition. So, does it live up to the brief? We find out!.

Every panel on this fourth-gen Dzire is a bespoke piece, with no hand-me-downs from the latest Swift nor echoes of the previous Dzire. The front has been entirely reimagined with rectangular, jewel-like headlights that lend a certain sophistication. There’s a hexagonal grille featuring five horizontal slats that are broader and proudly sport a blank spot up top for the Suzuki badge to perch. Beneath, the bumper takes on a boxier, more angular form, altogether sharper than before.

Along the sides, a chrome trim subtly elongates the silhouette, complemented by neat, two-tone 15-inch alloys that do their best to suggest a higher segment. At the rear, the restrained Y-shaped LED taillights give it a classy, standalone appearance—no gimmicky light bars here. A discreet chrome strip spans the boot, with a shark fin antenna and small lip spoiler adding just a hint of sporty flair. Altogether, the new Dzire has a maturity to its design, more refined than its predecessors. It sheds the cab image to brush against something more refined, something you might mistake for a European saloon at a glance. Yes, I dare say the new Dzire is Maruti Suzuki’s earnest attempt at rolling out a car that looks the part of a ‘premium’—and not just on the brochure.