The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ciaz (facelift) was launched on August 20 and is on sale in the price bracket of Rs 8.19 - 10.97 lakh. It's available in four trims - Sigma, Delta, Zeta, Alpha. The 'S' trim of the earlier version is not available on the facelift.

However, IAB’s automotive illustrator Shoeb Kalania has come up with a rendering to speculate the exterior styling of the 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ciaz S (Sports) trim. Readers should note that MSIL has not given any guidance on a sports version of the Ciaz.

The rendering shows an updated front bumper that is devoid of the chrome embellishments. The round foglamps have been replaced with horizontal LED strips. Instead of the chrome garnish, the upper end of the grille gets a body-coloured trim. In the side profile, the sedan gets sportier-looking multi-spoke alloy wheels and side skirts. The Outside Rear View Mirrors (ORVM) caps have been given a black paint finish. This is in sync with the contrast roof. The rear gets a boot spoiler. Going by the S trim of the pre-facelift, the variant can have an all-black interior colour theme.

One expects premium features like the touchscreen SmartPlay infotainment unit, leather upholstery, cruise control, LED projector headlamps, LED Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) and electric-folding ORVMs on the Sports version. Safety equipment for the facelift includes dual front airbags, ABS, Speed Alert Warning, and seatbelt reminder for front passengers.

If it were up to us, the S trim would come with the 1.0-litre Boosterjet engine with much better outputs than the Baleno (102 PS/150 Nm) complementing the sportier styling, and only in the manual variant.