Maruti has confirmed that it is readying an all-new compact SUV for the Indian market. Mentioned in the company's latest annual report, the compact SUV will be added to the Indian line-up soon.
We were the first ones to break the news about Maruti readying a new sub-four metre compact SUV for our market, last year. This new SUV (Codename: YBA) will be the first Maruti offering to rival the likes of the EcoSport, and the upcoming Mahindra TUV300. This new SUV is arguably the 'more exciting one' when compared to the brand’s other upcoming model, the YRA premium hatch.
Maruti has already begun testing this new SUV on Indian roads. It is likely to borrow styling cues from the XA-Alpha compact SUV shown earlier and the new Suzuki Vitara SUV sold overseas. In line with the company's recent launches such as the Maruti Ciaz and the Maruti S-Cross, the new Maruti compact SUV too could come with a lot of equipment on offer.
The new Maruti compact SUV will be powered by a 1.3-litre diesel motor. This is the same engine that does duty in every Suzuki diesel model sold in India, except for the Celerio. Like the recently launched S-Cross, we expect Maruti to offer safety features such as ABS and airbags across all variants of this new compact SUV.
Maruti is also working on bringing its new Boosterjet engine and mild-hybrid tech to India soon.