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The Cheap and Cheerful Wagon R

Wagon R, literally would mean a four-wheeled horse-drawn recreational vehicle with a large rectangular body, used for transporting loads in the old English context. The R in Wagon R stands for recreation. It is strange that a well known car company Suzuki Motor Corporation has used the name for its one of the popular models that is being sold in Japan and India. The Suzuki Wagon R is a kei car. Now, what's a kei car?

An average Indian might think Keijidosha (KG Dosha) could be a weight disorder. One could also think of it as an astronomical omen. The first definition is absolutely incorrect. What about the second one? Well, unfortunately it's incorrect too. Keijidosha is a Japanese category of small city cars. Kei cars, K-cars, or Keijidosha were created by the Japanese soon after World War II. While most Japanese found it difficult to own full-sized cars, they were rich enough to own motorcycles. They had to think of alternatives in order to promote the car industry and that's how Kei cars came into existence. They are small city cars that include passenger cars, vans and pickup trucks. That's how the term Keijidosha which dictated limited length and engine size was born.

The Suzuki Wagon R, first introduced in 1993, is still in production. It is one of the first cars to use the tall-wagon design. This boxy tall boy has successfully run the race on Indian roads for the past nine years. Its body is more like a camel; unusually long with a short bonnet and an almost vertical hatchback. Surprisingly, the sides are very well designed to offer a great deal of cabin space while still obeying the kei-car dimension rule. The car has been baptized with different names - Opel Agila, Vauxhall Agila, Suzuki Karimun and Maruti Wagon-R.

The Wagon R has been one of the best-selling kei cars in Japan and was expected to cross the production mark of 3 million cars by as early as 2008. The Wagon R, run on rough and smooth roads, has seen both rain and sunshine. The latest generation of the Wagon R was launched in Japan in September 2008. This fourth-generation Wagon R was specially generated for the modern generation.

The pleasant cry of the Wagon R was heard for the very first time in Japan in 1993. This first generation baby was 64.6 inches tall. It had a small engine, used less gas and the low cost for running and maintaining it gave the Wagon R an added advantage. Two years after the first tall-boy design car, the Hyundai Santro Xing, hit the Indian market, the Maruti-Suzuki Wagon R entered. It has been showing steady progress since then.

Japan carved the second generation of the Wagon R in 1998. It was slightly larger than the first-generation car and was called the Wagon R Wide. A little later, in 1999, the same car was baptized as the Wagon R+. This car was taken to Europe with a slightly larger engine in 2000. The Wagon R+ is also produced in Esztergom in Hungary and Gurgaon, India. A badge-engineered version of the Suzuki Wagon R+ was called the Opel Agila. It was introduced in summer 2000.

The Wagon R celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2003. To add to the joy, a third-generation Wagon R was produced. Unlike the previous plumper versions, Wagon R Wide and Wagon R+, this was a simple K-car. It was left that way for some time and a little later the car surgeons got into some action. They gave the sweet and simple Wagon R a rejuvenating facelift. The gorgeous third-generation Suzuki Wagon R was called the Stingray. Well, this Stingray, unlike the slender cartilaginous fish does not belong to the waters neither does it fill your hungry tummy. It has the shape of a breadbox or a bread bin, zooms on the roads and is strictly meant for travel.

The fourth-generation Wagon R was launched in Japan in September 2008 along with the Stingray variant, the AZ Wagon and Custom variant, manufactured for Mazda. Large rear windows with quarter glass, eliminating the need for a D pillar arrangement marks the difference of this new-generation wagon. They come with naturally aspirated and turbocharged 660cc engines mated to either 4-speed automatic, or 5-speed manual, or CVT transmission. An output of 64HP is developed. Customers can even choose between front-wheel and all-wheel-drive versions.

The made-for-India version of the Suzuki Wagon R is called the Maruti Wagon-R. Maruti Suzuki India Limited recently re-worked on the car's looks and introduced a new look WagonR which pours forth the boxy look at the back. As mentioned earlier, the Wagon R has seen both sunny and rainy days. Initially, the not-so-common shape of the car failed to impress the Indian consumer. Slowly, the discovery of other features of the car started accelerating its sales. Now, the car has its own space in the Indian market. It is very popular among the young urban professionals who forget the boxy looks and instead value its Maruti lineage. Mighty things come in tiny packages. The cheap and cheerful Maruti Suzuki WagonR is currently believed to be India's second largest selling car. The quick, light and smart car has won the hearts and pockets of Indians.