In terms of ride quality, the new Celerio manages to absorb all the bumps, potholes, and irregularities with good composure. Only the sharpest of creases or abrupt road imperfections are felt as well as heard inside the cabin. Moreover, the higher ground clearance also adds to the sense of relief when tackling bad road sections. And when the roads cease to exist, the Celerio soldiers on without any bother. A suitable hatchback for city and rural landscape alike. There’s a fair amount of body roll when pushed hard but this is not a car you go corner carving on. Going almost four turns lock-to-lock, the steering in the new Celerio isn’t the quickest. But it is light to operate and won’t be troublesome for those who spend long hours in traffic. The steering wheel isn’t self-centring or linear either. But how does it fare in day-to-day driving, we’ll have to wait for our full-fledged road test to find an answer to that.

Based on the fifth-generation Heartect platform which it shares with the Baleno, Swift, and Wagon R, the new Celerio is 55mm wider than the outgoing model with the wheelbase going up by 10mm. Meanwhile, the overall height is down by 5mm and the overall length remains unchanged. As for the design, the new Celerio is easy on the eyes just like the previous one was. There are some newer elements too, like this grille with a chrome slat joining the bulbous headlamps. There are simple halogen bulbs in here and no LEDs or DRLs of any kind. However, you do get circular fog lamps integrated nicely with the blacked-out lower grille design.

If you think the face is inspired by the Alto, move to the side and there’s some resemblance here with the S-Presso. The 15-inch alloy wheels done in black chrome finish are new and we think they blend well with the tall-boyish stance of the new Celerio. At the back, there are high-mounted tail lamps with small design details like this tapering. Again, no LEDs here, just plain halogen bulbs.

Overall, the Celerio design is more rounded off and has no edgy elements. The squarish and angular design of the first-gen is replaced by smooth flowing lines, and there’s no sharp crease visible around. It takes elements from various Maruti models and blends them into a well-rounded dough. Maruti has managed to keep the Celerio’s design inoffensive and buyers will like it parked outside their houses.

On the inside, the cabin of the new Celerio is an all-black affair. Which is a good departure from the boring black and beige. You do get some silver inserts around the air vents, on the centre console, on the steering wheel, and around the gear lever. For practicality, there’s space for knick-knacks, a couple of cup holders, bottle holders on the door, and a glove box.

Now I am 5.5ft and there’s an ample amount of headroom for me and taller drivers won’t find it difficult to find a good driving position either, thanks to height-adjustable seats and tilt steering. We loved these seats offered in the Wagon R, and in the Celerio, they still prove to be well designed, offering a good amount of support. There’s a dead pedal provided to rest your left foot and that’s a welcome addition.

Most of the cabin is carried over from Wagon R, like the steering wheel, instrument cluster, and seven-inch touchscreen unit. The placement of the head unit of this multimedia screen is at the same quirky height. The quality of materials used all around isn’t something to complain about either. But if we were to nitpick, it would be the placement of window switches and central locking on the center console below the touchscreen and not on the door. Many buyers won’t mind but it’s the fact that even the Wagon R gets conventional switches that gets our goat.

As for the back seat, it’s comfortable to get in, thanks to these wide-opening doors. So older people or kids can get in without any problems. And the space here isn’t too bad either. The seat does feel upright and they lack the under-thigh support, even the non-adjustable headrest isn’t comfortable. There’s good knee- and head-room with the front row set to my driving position. But there’s no centre armrest or air vents. We think it is best suited for two at the back.

Lastly, the boot space of 313-litres is larger than before. There’s also a 60:40 split seat in higher trims which is a nice addition. You can easily haul long weekend luggage of four here. And there will be more room to spare when a CNG tank will take up most of this space.

The new Celerio is offered across the familiar LXi, VXi, and ZXi trims, with the ZXi Plus joining the line-up. Standard features across the range include dual-front airbags, ABS, rear parking sensor, child lock for rear doors, and manual AC. What we are driving here is the top-spec ZXI Plus and its feature list includes a seven-inch SmartPlay Studio touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with four speakers, steering mounted control, height-adjustable driver seat, engine start-stop button, keyless entry, electric adjustment and folding for ORVMs, tachometer, and front fog lamps. Of the things it misses out on, we think the rear camera and rear AC vents are the most important ones. Additionally, there are customizable packs that can be opted for with additional accessories for some personalization touches.

Pricing for the new-gen Maruti Suzuki Celerio starts at Rs 4.99 lakh and goes all the way up to Rs 6.94 lakh, ex-showroom, for the top-spec AMT we have driven here. It might have gotten a lot more expensive than the outgoing Celerio, but it still is at par with its direct rivals which include the Hyundai Santro, Tata Tiago, Datsun Go, and its own sibling Maruti Wagon R. So, does the new Celerio brings the same charm as its predecessor to the fiercely-fought high-volume budget hatchback segment? It absolutely does. There’s a CNG version in the pipeline that is expected to gain more popularity than this claimed ‘most fuel-efficient engine’ but we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that. And we’ll surely be putting this new engine to test in real-world conditions to see how fuel-efficient it proves to be.

Until then, the Celerio makes for a good first car as well as a convenient runabout because it is a genuinely well-rounded compact hatchback that’s easy and convenient to drive, has a practical cabin with space for four and their luggage, a decent list of features, and will easily and comfortably take your family around town without burning a hole in your wallet.