NEW DAWN FOR THE ZEN.

A decade past its launch, the Zen finally gets a facelift. New front and rear ends replace the jellybean styling while under it all the mechanicals remain the same. Sirish Chandran road tests the latest avatar of one of India’s most loved cars.

Year 2004 marks the 11th year that the Zen has been in production in India. Eleven years in which she conquered the hearts and garage spaces of urban India and emerged as one of the biggest success stories in Indian motoring. However Maruti Suzuki finally had to wake up to the fact that eleven years were eleven too many and in the face of more modern opposition the Zen definitely had lost her charm.

Enter the new Zen with completely redesigned front and rear ends, a design job executed for Indians by Indians at the Maruti Suzuki base in Gurgaon. But is it good enough to revive the glory days of the Zen?