New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki has quietly pulled the plug on production of the Ignis hatchback, as per media reports. Most dealers have stopped taking fresh orders across the country. The Ignis had originally been launched in January 2017 and was retailed through the brand’s Nexa division.
Although it came with a slight crossover aesthetics, it never left a major mark as it should have. Sales of the hatchback peaked in 2022, with 51,176 units, but that was way behind Swift, which in the same period made sales of 1,76,424 units. It was the quirky styling, in fact, that somehow didn’t ring a bell with the Indian buyers.
In its lifecycle, the brand barely tried to upgrade it, and in the 9 years that it has existed, the Ignis has seen only one small safety upgrade in 2019 and one major update in the form of a mid-lifecycle facelift in 2020. In fact, while the brand upgraded its entire line with six airbags through 2025, the Ignis, along with the S-Presso, were the only one on sale which came with two airbags only. It also happened to be very few from Maruti Suzuki, which came with a factory-fitted CNG kit.
Powertrain was the Maruti Suzuki Ignis, launched with
Back when Ignis had been launched, it was offered with just the engine option, a 1.2-litre K-Series petrol engine making 83 bhp and a 1.3-litre DDIS diesel engine making 75 bhp. The latter was discontinued due to poor demand. Even though the sales peaked in 2022 after the facelift, the sales numbers have since fallen. In fact, in the course of the past few months, the sales went below the 2000 unit mark.
The Ignis is still listed on Maruti’s website with prices falling between Rs 5.35 lakh and Rs 7.55 lakh (ex-showroom). Since its launch, it was the cheapest model in the Nexa line. With very limited stocks remaining, the availability across the country might be difficult. Ignis follows another Nexa product, Ciaz, which also had very few updates in its lifetime and was slowly phased out.
Even though across the world, Ignis was liked by critics and customers for its driving dynamics, the hatchback came in India just as the SUV craze rose. Maruti might not revive Ignis in India, although the upcoming Y43 sub-compact SUV could be seen as the spiritual successor competing with the likes of Tata Punch and Hyundai Exter.