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Maruti Vitara Brezza – a cat under the guise of a tiger ??

The new Maruti has currently become the darling of the Indian Automobile Industry. And why not? The car, whose delivery has started just from the 25^th of March, has a waiting period of more than 4 months and the company has already clocked bookings of more than 37000 units!!

But is it truly the best newcomer on the block or is it just a passing fancy which greets every new launch? BigGaddi takes a look.

Maruti Vitara Brezza, codenamed the 2012 XA Alpha Concept, has been on the production line for 4 years during which the car has undergone a whole lot of changes. The car has been designed keeping in mind solely the Indian market and its many fancies. The car has been slotted as a ‘Compact SUV’. But the scales tip more towards the word compact, rather than an SUV. It is more like a normal hatchback on stilts. Seems like Maruti wanted to fill up the gap in its product line-up which had an absence of a compact SUV (a scalding hot segment right now) and hence, this is what we get.



But keeping that aside, let’s take a look at the car per se. The car will be competing against the likes of the Ford Ecosport and TUV300 directly and also against the Hyundai Creta and the Renualt Duster indirectly. Indirectly, because there is quite an overlap between the prices of these cars and customers will definitely want to keep the bigger SUVs into consideration.

Exteriors:

First impression conveys a stylish looking car. Shape and style looks very similar to the BMW Mini. The Vitara Brezza boasts of the segment first dual color scheme but the option is available only on the top variant. The car has a floating roof design with imparts a high end feel to the look of the car. The rear has a chrome bar with ‘Vitara Brezza’ embossed on it. Again, the ‘Bull Horn’ LED headlights are only offered on the top 2 variants.



But stressing on why we are calling it a compact hatchback rather than an SUV is the fact that the car height is only 1640 mm which is very less and does not give it an imposing stance.  Wheelbase is also the least in the segment at 2500 mm.  Ground clearance at 198 mm is quite good and makes ingress and egress quite easy.
 

Dimensions	Vitara Brezza
	Diesel
Length	3995 mm
Width	1790 mm
Height	1640 mm
Wheelbase	2500 mm
Ground Clearance	198 mm
Boot Space	328 litres

 
Interiors:

Again Maruti disappoints!! The interiors do not live upto the high end feel exuded by the exteriors. The quality of material used is not up to the mark. The instrument cluster in the center has a cockpit style design. The design of the dash looks quite dated. Plastic quality is not good enough for a car in this segment. Plus points are the quality of the fabric upholstery and storage space. Maruti has provided a lot of space to store bottles, papers, sunglasses and whatever else you wish to keep in a car.



Space wise, the car can sit 5 people comfortably and rear space is good. But in case you are nitpicking then – the under thigh squab is inadequate in the rear seat, which can make long distance drives uncomfortable. Bootspace is the least in the segment at 328 litres.

(Various other important points discussed under the head of ‘Safety, Comfort and Convenience’ later on)

Engine and Ride

Maruti has targeted a very selected segment of customers here as they are offering only a single diesel engine with no option for CVT/AT. Now some might say this is a smart move but I believe it come back to bite the company. Reason – the car is slotted as a ‘Compact SUV’. Meaning that it is not a full-fledged SUV and is meant for city driving.
 
 Now a lot of people in the city may not be commuting as much to warrant buying a diesel car and these are the customers Maruti will lose out on.  Also, a lot of people now want to buy an Automatic car these days (which is evident from the fact that even the smallest car now being made available with an AT option) and this option is also not available.

Coming to the engine, the car .. oops the SUV sports a 1.2 litre DDiS engine sourced from Fiat. Now lets not get into the discussion why a so-called SUV has been given an engine with such a small capacity. (PS : You may point out that Ford Ecosport comes with a 1 litre engine, but that is a Petrol engine AND Ford is also offering 1.5 litre Petrol engine)

Engine	Vitara Brezza
Type	DDiS 200
Capacity	1248
Max Power	66
Max Torque	200
No. of Cylinder	4
Transmission Type	5 MT
Brake
Front	Disc
Rear	Drum
Steering
Min. Turning Radius	5.2
Fuel efficiency	24.3 kmpl
Fuel tank capacity	48 litres
Kerb weight	1170-1195 kg
Seating Capacity	5
Tyre size	205/60 R16 (LDI and Vdi)
	215/60 R16 (Zdi & ZDI +)

The company claims a fuel efficiency of 24.3 kmpl which is the best in the segment.

The car is a good city commuter. The steering wheel does not give you much feedback but that is OK for city driving. The car does not feel very planted at high speeds due to the less kerb weight. Gearshift could also have been better, it is not as smooth as it should be.

Suspension is good and maneuvers the Indian roads nicely, but after all this is the real test as the car has been specifically designed for the Indian market.  
 
 
 
 
 






















Safety, Comfort and Convenience

A lot of stress is given to the feature list offered by the automaker in these highly competitive segment. The Vitara Brezza comes with Apple Car Play , Rain sensing wipers,  cruise control system, engine push start/stop, auto headlamp, Tweeters, Reverse Parking Camera Display, Voice Command, Navigation System – BUT all these only on the top model.  

The top 2 models get Steering mounted Audio and Calling controls, Moodlights in the Speedometer and Concealed Seat Undertray. But what is surprising in this day and age is that the bottom 2 variants do not get Rear Power Windows !!

Also, Maruti is offering Telescopic steering, UV Cut Glass and Leather wrapped steering wheels in the top models of the Baleno – but the same is missing in the Brezza. Another drawback is that the Anti-lock brakes are not a standard across variants. For the full –fledge safety kit you need to shell out an extra 13k.

So on the whole, if you are not going for the top models the kit list is disappointing.

Verdict

Going by what we have said so far you must already have gauged our verdict. But nevertheless, let me elaborate.
There was a lot of hullabaloo when Ford slashed the prices of the Ecosport. It was assumed that Ford is afraid of the new entrant. But the Ecosport is a product which has already proved its mettle and the prices were slashed to just remain competitive.

No. of variants	6
Price bracket (in Rs)
Metallic	7.18 - 9.76
Non-metallic	7.18 - 9.76
Dual tone	9.91

*(Prices are ex-showroom Ahmedabad as displayed on the Company website)
 
 The prices of the Brezza are competitive but I wonder, will it not create a case of cannibalization as the car will draw competition from the Baleno which is again a fantastic product.

Maruti will definitely garner huge sales numbers for the Vitara Brezza because of its huge sales and service network and the hype created around the product. But that does not prove that the product is the best in the segment. There are definitely better options available!!

Stay tuned for our Competitive Analysis : Maruti Vitara Brezza vs. Ford Ecosport vs. Mahindra TUV300.