Maruti Ignis… either a Why or a Wow…

India’s automobile world is where you can never predict what you are going to see next. A practical car, a fabulous car, some unique designs, new concepts or something which you can never judge about. 2016 was the Year when Maruti decided to start that year by appalling the buyers, in fact not only buyers, but the whole car market. It launched a car giving it a tagline as “made for the millennials”. Millennial exactly means someone born between the years 1980 and 2000. The car I am talking about is Ignis.

Now what I don’t understand is, what is the definition of Millennials in Maruti’s dictionary. Because I don’t think we Millennials are so confused or so weird as much as this car is designed.

The design of Ignis is something which you will either like a lot (which I doubt) or you will totally hate it. There is nothing in between this.

But it surely is something you will have to see again and again and againnnnn…

Is it a boxy design or a crossover or a funky look. At times I even imagine that it might have happened that the aliens took the designer into hostage and asked him to design something for them… ok ok, I know it was a bad joke, but these are the types of thoughts that come to my mind after looking at this car.

So Maruti Ignis comes with 4 variants Sigma, Delta, Zeta and Alpha and price range starting from Rs. 4.79 lakhs to Rs. 7.14 lakhs.

It looks like a mini crossover… actually very mini I guess…

In spite of being weird the front profile of the car seems a bit appealing. Huge grill, square pattern head lamps and the bumper is designed to appear as if it has three different sections.

The DRLs have been given a different shape altogether. Which gives it a truculent look .

Ignis comes with projector set-up in its headlamps. Projector headlamps have now become a sort of identity of a premium car.

These headlamps add to the robust front profile of the car. The shape of the lights is something which gives this car a sort of concept look from the front.

But when the headlamps are so unique or I would rather say weird than why are the fog lamps so basic and very casual?!

– the same old circular shaped fog lamps, that too, halogen fog lamps, not even LED or HID. So to intensify the look it has been garnished with the chrome.

Basically it has become a trend that whenever you mess up the design just garnish it with chrome and it will appear fine.

Ignis comes with 15 inch alloy wheels. A body cladding runs all over from the front wheel to the rear wheel which gives it a look of a crossover car.

A and B pillars have been blackened to give it a sportier look. Everything was going well and suddenly

this uncanny design appeared… many people asked me what is this basically for; either it is for ventilation or for aerodynamics. When I saw it I realized it is nothing but some funky design, may be this represents “millennial” in some ways.

Coming to rear end of this car… no no no, I don’t want to go over there. Unfortunately I have to talk about it

It’s been 3 years I am observing this car and till date I am confused or rather lacking words to describe this car’s rear end. Should I call it boxy or an Alto on steroids or what… it’s over sized, its bulgy, something that no one would expect when they will see this car from the front end.

Who would imagine that a car that got so quirky front profile will get so so sooooo disappointing at the rear end – square tail lamps, no LED treatment, not even synchronized with the body design.  But ok, according to the makers, “millennials” are weird.

Let’s see how this car is going to shock us with its interiors.

So Ignis is basically comfortable for 4 people. It has got adjustable head rests, both at the front as well as the rear. Ignis won’t let your mind stay calm and steady because even the interiors of this car are funky. The door handles from the inside are also finished in the same color as that of your car, not only the door handles, but the mid panel below the gear lever and handbrake is also given the same color.

Ignis has got the typical Maruti smart play infotainment system which comes with android auto and apple play connectivity.

So basically, as I said, it is a like it or hate it design. Either you will like it so much or you will hate it a lot.

But still the question arrives… why “Milennials”… are we Millennials really like this.

One thing is for sure, whether you hate it or like it, you are surely going to see this idiosyncratically deigned car again and again, because it is something that engages your eyes and your mind in itself for a long time.
Written by - Saurabh Mishra