Maruti Grand Vitara: New TVC released, bookings open

Maruti Suzuki has released a new TVC for the just-unveiled Grand Vitara mid-sized SUV. Pre-bookings for the Grand Vitara are now open across India. The Grand Vitara will be sold through Maruti Suzuki’s NEXA chain of dealerships, where it’ll replace the S-Cross. Production of the new SUV will commence next month at Toyota’s Bidadi factory, off Bangalore. That’s right, Toyota will build the Grand Vitara alongside the Hyryder, and ship it over to Maruti Suzuki. Notably, the Hyryder and Grand Vitara share almost everything save for the exterior styling and distribution network. Prices for the Maruti Grand Vitara will be revealed on the day of launch, which is expected sometime late next month.

Leaked documents indicate that the Maruti Grand Vitara will be priced very competitively, with the starting price for the base trim at Rs. 9.6 lakh. Now, that’s a full lakh cheaper than what the Grand Vitara’s biggest competitors – the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos – sell at. If Maruti Suzuki can indeed sell the new SUV at this price, great sales and long waiting times are to be expected. Be prepared to pay about Rs. 20 lakh (on-road) for the Strong Hybrid variants of the Grand Vitara, whose mileage of nearly 28 Kmpl will give even diesels a run for their money.

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Yes, the Grand Vitara will be the first Maruti Suzuki car to pack a strong hybrid powertrain. Borrowed from Toyota, the strong hybrid powertrain consists of a 1.5 liter petrol engine (91 Bhp-122 Nm) running on the Atkinson’s cycle paired with an electric motor that produces 78 Bhp-144 Nm. Combined output stands at 115 Bhp, and the Grand Vitara can even be driven in full-electric mode.

The SUV will go about 25 kilometers on battery power, and this should make city commutes hassle-free and extremely economical. Talking of city commutes, the strong hybrid variants of the Grand Vitara will use a CVT automatic gearbox with 5 stepped shifts. The strong hybrid variants of the SUV will be front wheel driven.

Maruti Suzuki also offers an all wheel drive layout on the Grand Vitara. For this though, you’ll need to buy the mild hybrid petrol engined version of the Grand Vitara with a 5 speed manual gearbox. That’s right, the Grand Vitara will also be available with a 1.5 liter-4 cylinder K15C petrol engine with 102 Bhp-135 Nm on tap. This engine will get 5 speed manual and 6 speed torque converter automatic gearboxes. All wheel drive will be offered only with the manual gearbox while the automatic trims will drive the front wheels of the SUV.

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