Maruti Suzuki is one of those carmakers that reveals almost every single specification of its vehicles in the brochure that will be made available at the time of launch. These specifications include mileage, boot space, ground clearance and weight of each powertrain combo and other important information that many OEMs ignore.
This trend has now been broken as Maruti Suzuki has recently launched a flex fuel version of its tall boy hatchback, which has been named WagonR BioFlex. The launch price of WagonR Bioflex is Rs 7.24 lakh (ex-sh) and is meant for commercial buyers only, but the vehicle is not yet listed on the company’s commercial or Arena websites.
Maruti WagonR Flex Fuel Launch
The Indian government is pushing for ethanol fuel in the automotive sector and Maruti Suzuki is at the forefront of this push as it has launched India’s first flex fuel vehicle in the form of WagonR Bioflex. The launch price is Rs 7.24 lakh (ex-sh), and it is offered only for commercial buyers (at this time) and is based on the top-spec ZX+ MT trim.
When compared to the standard WagonR ZX+ 1.2 petrol MT variant on which it is based, the WagonR Bioflex is Rs 86,000 more expensive, making the upfront cost higher. Furthermore, WagonR BioFlex is currently offered only for the commercial sector. Design changes include Flex Fuel decals on the sides and BioFlex badging on the tailgate and the interiors are the same between the standard and BioFlex versions.
For the commercial segment, Maruti Suzuki also offers the WagonR as the Tour H3, priced at Rs 4.99 lakh for the 1.0 liter petrol manual and Rs 5.89 lakh for the 1.0 liter petrol + CNG bi-fuel option (both prices ex-showroom). This makes the WagonR Bioflex 1.2L K12N Flex Fuel MT more expensive by Rs 2.25 lakh than the 1.0L petrol MT Tour H3 and by Rs 1.35 lakh more than the 1.0L petrol + CNG MT Tour H3.
What do you get from this?
In terms of features and comfort features, the recently launched Maruti Suzuki WagonR BioFlex gets similar equipment to the standard WagonR ZXi+ trim on which it is based. Notable features include fog lights, rear parking sensors, 7-inch touchscreen infotainment screen, wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, 4 speakers, ESP, 6 airbags, manual AC, steering mounted audio controls, manually dimmable IRVM and others.
Under the bonnet, the Maruti WagonR Bioflex gets a 1.2L K12N naturally aspirated 4-cylinder flex fuel engine. This engine gets a dedicated ECU that is capable of burning ethanol blends up to E85 (85% ethanol). The car also features updated fuel storage, fuel supply and fuel injection systems to handle fuels up to E85 blends.
Maruti Suzuki has not yet listed the WagonR Bioflex on its website and has not revealed important specifications like power, torque, mileage and other figures. For reference, the standard WagonR E20 with the 1.2 liter petrol engine is rated at 91 bhp and 114 Nm and is promised a mileage of 23.56 km/l with the MT and 24.43 km/l with the AMT variant.