Maruti Suzuki has opened bookings for its Grand Vitara and the bookings for the SUV has now crossed 53,000 units. That being said, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV is available with two hybrid powertrains and the Strong Hybrid variant has racked up 23,000 bookings.
In India, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV rivals the likes of other C-segment SUVs such as Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun, Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder and MG Astor in India. Out of these models, the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder is Toyota’s iteration of the Grand Vitara and as a result, both vehicles are almost identical.
Traditionally, Maruti Suzuki has failed to replicate the success of its more affordable models in the ‘Premium’ category. However, the launch of the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara sure looks very promising and this will give a great boost to the Indo-Japanese automaker’s confidence in introducing more premium products in the country.
Among the many USPs of the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV, the most obvious one is its hybrid-only powertrain options. This along with the timing of the launch at the time of fluctuating oil prices has attracted many potential buyers as hybrid powertrains are generally well-known for their excellent low running costs.
Apart from that, both of these hybrid powertrains further reduce the carbon footprint and offer excellent fuel-efficiency figures. Speaking about fuel efficiency. The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV is currently the most fuel-efficient SUV available in India with a fuel efficiency figure of 28km/l.
As mentioned earlier, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara comes with two hybrid engine options. The mild-hybrid engine is the automaker’s tried-and-tested 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder, naturally-aspirated petrol engine with an Integrated starter generator. This engine produces a total of 102bhp of peak power and 135Nm of peak torque. Gearbox options with this powertrain include a 5-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic transmission.
It is also worth mentioning that the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV equipped with this mild-hybrid engine can also be specified with an all-wheel-drive system. However, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV equipped with the all-wheel-drive comes exclusively with a 5-speed manual transmission.
Coming to the strong hybrid powertrain, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV uses a 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, Atkinson-cycle, petrol engine from Toyota. While the internal combustion unit produces a total of 91bhp of peak power and 122Nm of peak torque, the electric motor that is an integral part of the hybrid unit produces 78bhp of power and 144Nm of torque.
In combined form, this powertrain produces 114bhp of peak power and uses an eCVT gearbox to drive its front wheels. Thanks to the electric motor, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Strong Hybrid variant can travel up to 25km on pure electric power – A worthy feature to have in congested metro cities of India.
In terms of features, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV is the first Maruti Suzuki model to feature a panoramic sunroof and it is also the only SUV in its segment to be offered with an all-wheel-drive layout.
Other notable features on the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV include a heads-up display, a large 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, connected car tech, wireless charging, ambient lighting, all-LED lighting, ventilated seats, digital instrument cluster and many more.
Maruti Suzuki has given special attention to safety with the Grand Vitara and has equipped the SUV with safety systems such as 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, hill decent control, hill start assist, disc brakes on all four wheels, ESC, ISOFIX anchoring points and more.
Thoughts About Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV
With more than 53,000 bookings, the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV sure looks to be another success story for the Indo-Japanese automaker. Moreover, the success of the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV is very crucial for Maruti Suzuki as it will open a whole new segment for the automaker in India.
Keyword: Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Receives 53,000 Bookings - Strong Hybrid Variants In Almost Equal Demand