India's leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki plans to launch its all new compact sedan, A-Star, by mid November in the domestic market.

With the launch, India will become the first country to drive this car designed and developed by the company as a global strategic model. Swift, Sx4 and Grand Vitara were among the other world strategic models that the company had launched in India earlier.

The latest car will be Maruti Suzuki's seventh model in the A2 segment, which will compete with rival car models like Hyundai i10, Tata Indigo CS, Swift among others.

According to sources, the introduction of A-Star will further strengthen the company's portfolio in the A2 segment, which presently enjoys a 55% market share in the A2 segment.

A-Star will be equipped with 1-litre K-series petrol engine developed in-house by Suzuki engineers; will have a low-weight three-cylinder aluminum next-generation engine. The sedan, which will come in three variants, is expected to be priced close to Rs 4 lakh (ex-showroom).

MSIL aims to produce initially 100,000 cars for export markets and 50,000 cars for the domestic market.

MSIL and Suzuki, two separate car companies, will sell this car in domestic as well in overseas market. Other than these said brands, the car will also be commercialized by Nissan under the brand name, Pixo, in West Asia and European markets.

According to an estimate, the latest car will be exported to over 150 countries around the world except the US market.