E-Paper
Zen & the art of declining Esteem
In an effort to elongate its shelf life the Esteem has got its umpteenth facelift.
A few months after the Zen got its makeover it is the turn of the Esteem. And this too at a time when the car, instead of being given new garbs should have been given a burial. In the long intervening ten years it has served its master well. But obviously the makers of the Esteem, Maruti Udyog Ltd doesn’t think so. In an effort to elongate its shelf life the Esteem got its umpteenth facelift.
A new pair of clear eyed lenses, new bonnet, chrome-plated grille, a new taillight cluster and the interior uses a touch of chrome garnish for the centre console, power window pods and in the VXi trim the gear lever and the parking brakes too get the chrome treatment. The seats are wrapped in new fabric upholstery. And then there are tiny frills like a power-antenna and fog-lamps for the VXi trim. The engine remains the same except for the footwear that now comes shod with tubeless tyres (175/70 R 13 for the VXi while lightly skinnier ones for the LX and the LXi 155/80 R 13). The tubeless tyres will aid the driving dynamics of the car but the difference is marginal.
The Esteem with its 1.3 litre, 85 horsepower engine had always been a gutsy performer notching up some of the fastest 0 -100 kmph sprint timings and over the last half dozen years or so had proven to be a formidable rally car. When it comes to performance the Esteem still remains an attractive proposition.
But the fact remains that here is a car that was launched in 1994 in India and even before its launch here it has been doing duty as the Swift and the Cultus in different markets. And in today’s world where attention spans are measured in nanoseconds ten years is a long time for a product to be in the showrooms.
The price has dropped down by a full fifty grands to Rs 4.9 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi for the top notch VXi model and a substantial 42 K less for the base LX ( Rs 4.25 lakh). Will the new-look Esteem with the tag of being the cheapest three-box in the country, revive the fortunes of the car? Only time will answer the question.
