Thanks to the upcoming Real Driving Emission (RDE) norms, the four-decade-old esteemed Maruti Suzuki 800cc, three-cylinder engine is rumored to be discontinued by the end of this financial year (March 2023). Introduced in 1983, it was first offered on the iconic Maruti 800 and later carried over to Omni and today’s Alto.
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The upcoming and more rigorous emission standards will be rolled out in April 2023, so the carmakers will have to upgrade the engines to continue selling vehicles in India. And reports suggest that Maruti Suzuki won’t contemporize this 40-year-old engine to comply with the new regulations as this engine is currently being offered only in the 800cc Alto, whose demand is diminishing by its more expensive siblings, the Alto K10 and WagonR. Also, updating it to the new norms will mean a hike in its price, thus, affecting its value-for-money quotient. So, phasing it out will make more sense, and the new-gen Alto K10 will take the entry-level charge for the brand.