Maruti Suzuki India has started exporting the Ritz to the South East Asian markets, starting from January 27, 2010. Originally built for the domestic market, Maruti had launched the Ritz in May 2009 with a petrol and diesel engine options. Since then, MSI has sold 45,500 units of the Ritz.
However, to start with, Maruti has decided to export only the petrol variant of the car. The first batch of 500 units of the Ritz, sporting the K-series 1.2L engine were shipped to the Indonesian market on Wednesday.
Internationally known as the Splash, Maruti has managed to sell the Ritz in good numbers, thanks to its brilliant K-series engine. The 1.2-litre K12M petrol and the renowned 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engines have built a reputation for themselves and it was only fitting for MSI to look at exporting the Ritz to the overseas markets.
Maruti’s move to Indonesia with the Ritz comes on the heels of successfully exporting 1lakh units of the A-star to the European markets, in December last year. Exporting made-in-India cars to the international markets is in line with the parent Suzuki Motor Corporation’s vision of turning India as a global hub for compact cars.