Maruti Wagon R – Detailed History Of Maruti Wagon R
Introduced in 1993, Suzuki Wagon R has taken place in the top ten best seller vehicles of the world quite easily. Sold in almost every other country of the world, this vehicle can be found with various names including Suzuki Karimun, Maruti Wagon R, Mazda AZ Wagon, Mitsubishi Delica D2, Vauxhall Agila, and Opel Agila. The first Maruti Wagon R was introduced in the Tokyo Auto Show as the classic Kei alternate the mini trucks. In terms of design this car is closely related to the Change Suzuki Beidouxing, the classic F-MPV vehicle being produced by the Suzuki Corporation in late 80s.
The Wagon R design was seen as the innovative and modern when it first appeared in 1993, and this is still the most reproduced design from various auto companies be it Mahindra & Mahindra or Tata. Interestingly this often seen as a busy city car was not produced as the every day vehicle in Japan. Initially this was produced as the recreational vehicle for the city dwellers. As a result the capital R in the Maruti Wagon R actually stands for the Recreation.
The design process of the Wagon R was not straight forward. The company wanted to create the mini Wagon but the tall body was not the first choice of the design team. They wanted to create a bigger vehicle but the smaller parking spaces in the Tokyo was the initial hurdle for the company to stop the over sizing this iconic Kei design. The result of more then thirty attempts to find the ideal shape was seen as the tall Wagon shape that we associate with Wagon R. The aim of the team was to maximize the cabin space of the vehicle rather then the length or width.
While the first reaction to the Maruti Wagon R was quite pleasant some of the critics associate this more as a commercial vehicle rather then the domestic one. This innovative design was vastly improving the feel of the Kei car or the hatchback design that was quite popular previously. The Wagon R design has not only started a new segment in the car market but also a fruitful investment for the Suzuki Corporation as well, as result in matter of just five years more then three million Wagon R vehicles were exported from Japan.
Since the inception, this super car has gone under many transformations too. There are five generations of this Maruti Wagon R vehicle in the market. The last of this is in shape of the Wagon R plus that was introduced after 2008. Similarly the fourth generation of this vehicle was introduced in late 2007 and is still the best seller for the Maruti Suzuki India as well.
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