The country's top carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited today launched its premium hatchback, Ritz. The car is the first BS-IV compliant passenger car on Indian roads.

Ritz is a tallboy hatchback, positioned in the premium A2 market segment. The Maruti Suzuki Ritz, adopts a contemporary European design and is positioned at the growing premium-end of the compact car market.

Ritz will be the first passenger car in India to be compliant with the BS-IV emission norms, in petrol as well as diesel variants. This is many months ahead of the BS-IV norms being applicable in India, reinforcing Maruti Suzuki's leadership position.

''Ritz will be the first passenger car in India to be compliant with the BS-IV emission norms, in petrol as well as diesel variants. This is many months ahead of the BS-IV norms being applicable in India, reinforcing Maruti Suzuki's leadership position,'' the company said in an earlier release.

With Ritz, MSIL aims to consolidate its leadership in the highly competitive compact car segment. The company commands the largest market share of 58 per cent in the A2 segment.

The petrol version of Ritz costs between Rs390,000 ($7,860) at the lower end and Rs480,000 at the higher end ex-showroom in New Delhi and Rs465,000 and Rs499,000 respectively for the diesel variant, the company said.

Meant for the family, the Ritz has received special attention in the area of seating comfort, the company said, adding, ''The rear seat bench has been designed for comfortable seating of three passengers.''

The suspension of the vehicle with a ground clearance of 170 mm has been tuned for Indian road conditions.

Ritz is MSIL's eighth new model within 48 months following the launch of Swift, Zen Estilo, SX4, Swift Diesel, Grand Vitara, Swift Dzire and A-star. In the A-2 segment, Ritz will be the 7th offering for the customers by Maruti Suzuki.

The Ritz will be available with two different engine options: a brand new K-series 1.2 litre, four-cylinder, 85PS Petrol engine and the super-successful 1.3 litre, 16-valve DDiS, 75PS Diesel engine.

Maruti Suzuki expects to get "good response" for the new car, managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi said.