Ritz offers nothing compared to competitiors. Review on Maruti Suzuki RitZ

I did a lot of study about Ritz because I wanted to buy one. I am extremely choosy and make lot of studies to take a purchase decision. I want ot tell you something which nobody told you.

Rits became very popular in a month but when compared to its competitors, what does Maruti offer in its Ritz LXI model with a price tag of 4.18 lakh on road?

1. No power windows even at driver side

   
   




2. No central locking

   
   




3. No remote opening / locking(keyless entry)

   
   




4. No tubeless tyres

   
   




5. No height adjustable driver seat

   
   




6. No body coloured external mirrors and handles

   
   




7. No extra controls on steering wheel

   
   




8. No fog lamp

   
   




9. No front seat under tray

   
   




10. Not even MP3/FM player(I do not mean expensive CD player)

    
    




11. Not even a pocket behind rear seat which costs nothing!

    
    

Points 1-5 cost maruti some price but points 6-11 cost nothing to maruti. I can’t imagine why even the ‘body coloured’ OVRM and handles are not provided! How much does it cost maruti for some paint? How much does it cost for the seat back pocket? How much does it cost for two fog lamp bulbs?

What is given in even Vxi model?

The only extra things that we get in Vxi compared to LXI are Power windows, Central locking, Front fog lamps, Black coloured B pillar, Wheel cover, Tacho meter, Driver side seat belt reminder, Light off and key reminder, Door ajar warning, Seat back pocket, Front seat under tray and vanity mirror.

Out of these, Power windows and central locking are good features but rest are useless. Think. Are these minor specification good enough to distinguish between LXi and VXi? Isn’t it a cheep bargaining when they are charging Rs 40000 etra for Vxi?

And in Zxi model?

Good features like tilt steering, remote keyless entry, rear wiper, steering wheel mounted audio controls etc are soley reserved for top most model(Zxi) for which we have to pay an extra money of One lakh!

What Maruti did not do

To fix front power windows, a customer has to pay minimum of Rs. 5000. But for the company, it would have costed only 1/10 of it because they take it in a bulk of ten thousands or lakhs. So, it is a minor issue for the company to fix such things. They could have add that extra price to the cost of the car. Why they did not do so? THEY WANT TO MAKE A MARGINAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LXI AND VXI. A ‘deluxe’ customer who lured into these minor luxuries will end up in buying a VXI by paying an extra 40, 000 . OK, it is a business trick but doesn’t it sound too ‘money minded’?

Have you observed what the I10 Magna(Kaapa Engine Base model) offers even at a lesser price(4.11 lakhs on road)?Central locking Body coloured OVRM, Handles Full wheel cover, Tilt steering, 4 Power windows, Seat belt warning, Rear parcel tray, Better quality and bright dashboard, Vanity mirrors etc.

Now just see what all Punto 1.2L Active(base model) with in the same price range gives:

Tilt adjustable steering, Front power windows, Rear parcel shelf, Seat belt warning and a few extra but decent features like fire prevention system, much wider tyre etc.

My intention with this review is to show what the Ritz offers with4.18 lakhs and what I10 offers with4.11 lakh which is Rs.7000 less than that of Ritz.(Rs. 411284/-quoted by Smara Hundai, New Delhi on 20/6/09).

Forget all Lxi, Vxi classification. See what features they offer with what price. CUSTOMERS ARE MAINLY CONCERNED WITH PRICE RANGE AND FEATURES RATHER THAN WITH LXI AND VXI.

The following cons also hold me from going for a Ritz

1. Its awkward back(in course of time people may like it)

   
   




2. Very gloomy interiors especially dash board(why it is so dark when I10 offers such a bright beige colour?)

   
   




3. Not at all colour full interiors(See punto’s dash board)

   
   




4. Cheep interior plastic(Learn from old Santro)

   
   




5. High price(Not price worthy)

   
   




6. Lack of above mentioned basic features in Lxi and even in Vxi

   
   




7. Very rarely found on the roads(Why?)

   
   




8. Back seat not double foldable.(Even a decade old santro has this!)

   
   




9. Yet to be tested on Indian roads(Let time prove)

   
   




10. No schemes or discount available yet(So proudy?)

    
    

Then what is more in Ritz compared to its competitors? The so said Fuel Efficiency and a 60:40 split seat . FE has yet to be proved in real driving conditions in coming months.

I still like Ritz if it really gives the claimed mileage and some discount. But how can Ritz withstand when it cannot give what its competitiors are giving? Maruti should give customers something when they pay a price of >4lakh!

I have mainly reviewed the interior aspects of Ritz. Size wise Rits is a big car but can only the size attract all customers? I do not blame Ritz but Maruti could pay some attention in interior also.

When we build a house, we give more attention to interior beauty. Then why not Maruti?

Thank you readers.