Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Limited on Wednesday unveiled the much-awaited world strategic model, the A-star, at a glittering function at the Intercontinental, The Lalit, Mumbai.

The new state-of-the-art, light-weight car boasts of a powerful 998 cc K10B petrol engine that sets a new standard in fuel efficiency, at 19.59 kilometers per litre (as tested at ARAI, Pune).

Built on a brand new platform, the A-star is an ideal city car with the best in class turning radius, power delivery, flat torque (minimum gearshifts) characteristics and performance parameters. Additionally, the A-star is a truly green car that performs to the ELV norms, which makes it 85 per cent recyclable. Also, it is free from hazardous materials like lead, cadmium, mercury and chromium.

A-star is Maruti Suzuki's eighth vehicle in less than 40 months. It is positioned in the premium A2 segment where Maruti Suzuki holds a whopping 55 per cent market share. Its stylish, sporty and youthful looks will appeal to the urban young professional who is looking for a futuristic car that will complement his lifestyle - the small car that will drive him into the big future.

A brand new engine and transmission

The A-star is the first car from Maruti Suzuki that comes with the new KB Series engine. The K10B engine is a major technology initiative that delivers 67 ps @ 6200 rpm and torque of 90nm @ 3500 rpm. The flat torque curve is one of the many features that make the A-star ideally suited for city driving; it ensures easy negotiation of the stop-go conditions of city traffic. The engine has undergone over 250,000 km of rigorous testing and over 500 hours of engine calibration and 7,500 hours of engine validation on dynamometer, Maruti Suzuki said in a release.

Driving comfort

The A-star features a front suspension frame for excellent handling. Front and rear suspensions have been fine-tuned for enhanced riding comfort with perfect handling under Indian road conditions. The A-star has a ground clearance of 170 mm with a turning radius of 4.5 metres. The unique all-round gas damped suspension makes for ulta-comfortable driving, reducing wear and tear and making for low overall maintenance costs.

Safety

The A-star comes with several safety features, including a crushable structure energy dispersing frame with a light but high rigidity body. In the event of a collision, the crushable structures absorb the impact and disperse the impact energy away from the occupants.

Aesthetics: In a class apart

Interiors: The A-star interiors blend modernity with ethnicity. The smart tacho pod, digital trip meter, odometer, fuel guage, clock and an integrated music system offer unmatched styling. A floating cockpit design with the sculpted areo-dashborad and wrap-around console add to the overall sporty theme.

Exteriors

The riveting, sculpted good looks of the A-star are inspired by contemporary European tastes that favour apportioned cabin layouts. The graceful areodynamically styled exteriors have several interesting features such as sweeping expressive lamps and comet shaped tail lamps. The extra-wide sporty grille makes for excellent engine ventilation.

The stylishly designed A-star comes in three variants - LXi, VXi and the top-end fully loaded ZXi - in nine vibrant colours - desert brown, paradise blue, healing green, supreme white, sunlight copper, silky silver, bright red, midnight black and azure grey.

Prices

Introductory prices of A-star in Mumbai are:

A-star LXi   Rs3,61,209
A-star Vxi    Rs3,90, 272
A-star Zxi     Rs4,28,754

Maruti has targeted annual domestic A-star sales of 50,000 units and exports of 100,000 units, Mayank Pareek, executive officer (marketing and sales), said in response to a query at the launch function.