Maruti Suzuki WagonR

We Say: Possibly The Most Distinctive Hatchback From Suzuki, The Wagon R Now Gets A Proper Makeover For Its Third Generation.

- Debabrata Sarkar

If you think of hatchbacks, you tend to think of Maruti Suzuki and along with that name, pops up, the familiar WagonR. This is a hatchback that now ranks as one of the oldest brand names around. Moreover, while its peers have been merged with other brands or moved on to different body styles, the WagonR holds firm ground. It takes a single glance to tell a WagonR apart and over nearly two decades, the design has remained largely unaltered.

With the brand new third-generation WagonR, the designers at Suzuki have kept the key ingredients that made this car so distinctive and thrown in a bit of flair. There is no denying the fact that the third-generation car is bigger in every respect, and it has received styling cues that emphasise this fact. It gets big headlamps that sort of wrap around an indentation on the side, a bigger grille with a fat chrome slat and a large air-dam to make the front appear wider and larger. While the side profile retains the same basic lines of its endearing tall design, the car has grown longer and it gets a prominent niche that runs the length of the car. Square-ish indentation over the wheel arches are linked by a low crease along the doors to break up the mass nicely. There’s also the partly blacked-out element in the C-pillar to mask its height to some extent. At the rear, there’s plenty going on between the sculpted surfaces, massive chrome element and the tall tail-lamp to keep your eyes busy. Like the newer generation of Suzuki cars, there isn’t any mention of the trim level on the exterior of the car.