2013 Mara Xenia LX 1.6
2013 marked the debut year of a new generation of Mara’s compact offering, now called the Xenia. It was an incremental step forward in length and also essentially all other regards compared to what had proved to be effective and economical in the predecessor. The LX trim was the mid-range trim, a step up from a very spartan L but below the GLX trim in terms of equipment.
Under the hood was (finally) Mara’s first DOHC engine which was intended to replace both the upper end of the previous generation’s lower displacement 4-cylinder engine (1.6 litres) as well as the higher displacement 4 cylinder engine family (2.0 & 2.3 litres) that has been used in Mara’s larger cars of the previous decade. Still naturally aspirated at its debut, the new engine would gain an optional turbo in future model years across all displacement variants (1.6, 2.0 and 2.3) and cars in Mara’s model range.
An all-new 1.2 litre 3-cylinder was under development as well for the Xenia, but it was not ready for production at the introduction in 2013. Mara’s existing (and ageing) naturally aspirated 1.1 litre 3-cylinder was available as the base engine but rarely ordered.
To promote the car, a future facelift would be entered in some rally competitions.