Maruti Grand Vitara: What the SUV’s 7 seat version will look like

Last week, Maruti Suzuki took the curtains off its latest offering for India – the Grand Vitara mid-size SUV. Built to rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos, the Grand Vitara is a 5 seat SUV. What if Maruti wants to leverage the Grand Vitara to challenge the Hyundai Alcazar – the 7 seat version of the Creta? Well, here is a render from SRK Design depicting what the Grand Vitara’s 7 seat version could look like.

As the render indicates, the Grand Vitara’s 7 seat version could see an increase in length with the wheelbase remaining similar to the 5 seat model. Maruti Suzuki could call the 7 seat version the Grand Vitara XL. Notably, previous generations of the Suzuki Grand Vitara have used the XL suffix liberally – the 5-seat version of the SUV was called the XL5 and the 7-seat version was called the XL7. Will we see a rerun of the XL7 name plate on the latest iteration of the Grand Vitara? Only time can tell.

For now, Maruti Suzuki will sell only the five seat version of the SUV in the Indian market. Bookings for the new Maruti Grand Vitara have already commenced across the automaker’s NEXA range of dealerships. The actual launch and price announcement will happen in early September, following which customer deliveries of the SUV will commence. The Grand Vitara shares its platform, parts and manufacturing facility with the Toyota Hyryder, and the Hyryder will be launched a few weeks before the Maruti-badged SUV.

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The Grand Vitara is Maruti Suzuki’s first strong-hybrid car in the Indian market. The strong hybrid powertrain has been sourced from Toyota. It’s a 1.5 liter-4 cylinder unit that’s paired with an electric motor. A CVT automatic gearbox drives the front wheels of the car. Designed to operate in hybrid, and all-electric modes, the strong hybrid makes the Grand Vitara more fuel efficient than even diesel engined cars. Maruti Suzuki claims a mileage of nearly 29 Kmpl, which is quite phenomenal. India loves fuel efficient cars, and the Grand Vitara Strong Hybrid could become a super hit if priced sensibly.

Maruti will also sell the Grand Vitara with a mild hybrid petrol engine. The mild hybrid motor is the K15C unit that makes 102 Bhp-135 Nm, and is offered with 5 speed manual and 6 speed torque converter automatic gearbox options. This motor will be used on the lower trims of the SUV, and will also get an all wheel drive option with the manual variant. The Suzuki AllGrip all wheel drive system is a best-in-class feature, and be offered on the Toyota Hyryder as well.

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