7 lakh sales milestone: Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza latest entrant to the club

Many Maruti Suzuki India’s models are hitting new sales milestones lately. The game-changing Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, launched at the Auto Expo in March 2016, is the latest Maruti to breeze past the 7,00,000-unit sales milestone.

• Brezza was launched at the 2016 Auto Expo
• Crossed the half million mark last January
• Last 2,00,000 units sold in just 24 months

Maruti Vitara Brezza: 7 lakh sales milestone 

The Brezza has taken less than seven years to reach this milestone – five fiscals and nine months, or, specifically, 69 months. The Brezza hit this milestone just after the Ertiga did in nine years, nine months, Baleno, which crossed a million sales in six years, or 72 months, and the Swift’s 2.5 million units in 16 years.

According to our sister publication Autocar Professional’s data analytics, the Vitara Brezza has sold a total of 6,98,770 units until November end. Given that the compact SUV has been averaging 8,872 units a month over the last four months, or 295 units a day, the remaining 1,230 units to cross the 7,00,000 milestone would have been sold by December 5.

The Brezza had surpassed the 5,00,000 sales milestone last January. The first 100,000-unit sales came up in 12 months, 3,00,000 mark in 28 months, 4,00,000 landmark in 35 months, and half-a-million units in 46 months. The last 2,00,000 units were sold in 24 months, with 1,06,431 units sold since January.  

Taking petrol-only power in its stride

Maruti Suzuki would have got to the 7,00,000 mark much sooner, if it weren’t for its decision to stop making diesel cars last April, thus slowing down sales. That was followed by the pandemic-induced market slowdown and the arrival of newer rivals like the Hyundai Venue and Mahindra XUV300, both also available with diesel engines. But Maruti Suzuki fought back with the petrol-engined Vitara Brezza, launched last February.

The carmaker used Suzuki’s K15B 1.5-litre petrol engine instead of the 1.3-litre diesel. This meant that the Brezza shares its 105hp, 138Nm, BS6-compliant petrol engine with other Marutis like the Ciaz, Ertiga and XL6. A 5-speed manual gearbox is standard, while a 4-speed torque converter-equipped auto is available as an option. Interestingly, Suzuki’s SHVS Smart Hybrid tech is reserved only for the automatic versions. The petrol engine delivers a fuel efficiency of 18.76kpl for the automatic and 17.03kpl for the manual variant.

New Maruti Brezza launch by mid-2022

Now, Maruti Suzuki is readying the launch of the MY2022 model of the Vitara Brezza (codename: YTA), which will be the first SUV from Maruti’s new model offensive to be launched in India. The new SUV has been spied without camouflage, revealing many details about its design. According to our previous report, Maruti will be dropping the ‘Vitara’ prefix and possibly use it for its Creta fighter, given that it already offers a larger SUV with that name overseas.

In terms of design, the new Brezza will have a heavily updated front and rear end, with Maruti even making a number of sheet-metal changes. Given that the new Brezza will use the same platform as the current model, the bodyshell and doors will remain unchanged. At the rear, the updated compact SUV will feature a restyled tailgate.

We also expect Maruti to step up the new Brezza’s equipment list and provide features like a sunroof, a larger touchscreen infotainment system, wireless charger, paddle-shifters (for automatic variants) and even a SIM-based connectivity suite that will add connected features like geofencing, real-time tracking, find your car and intrusion detection. In order to make the Brezza more upmarket, Maruti will also look at drastically improving the cabin, and use higher quality plastic.

The same 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine with mild-hybrid tech, as in the current model is expected to continue. However, Maruti is expected to improve the efficiency levels of the SUV. With the new Brezza set to get a more upmarket treatment, expect prices to be in the range of Rs 8 lakh-12.5 lakh (ex-showroom). This will place the SUV towards the higher end of the compact SUV segment and closer to the Kia Sonet and Hyundai Venue.

Brezza could also get the CNG treatment

What could add more wind in Brezza’s sails is that Maruti Suzuki is considering a CNG variant for the Brezza. One of the earliest carmakers to introduce CNG-powered cars in India, it clocked its highest-ever CNG car sales – 1,57,954 units – this financial year (2020-2021), which is 12.20 percent of its total passenger vehicle sales of 12,93,840 units. Importantly, this move has helped buffer the loss of sales, following the company exiting the diesel market.

“People are no longer worried about loss of power, engine misfiring or the car not being able to climb an incline on CNG. Customers have given us the feedback to get CNG in the Vitara Brezza. Our market research also shows that customers are looking for CNG even in the Swift,” said Shashank Srivastava, executive director, Sales and Marketing, MSIL, speaking to Autocar Professional. CNG could also power Nexa cars and, according to Srivastava, “There is a huge demand and a lot of customers are asking for CNG in the Baleno and Ciaz. We are examining it, and then decide which models to offer with CNG.”

Are you excited for the launch of the new Maruti Suzuki Brezza next year? Let us know in the comments below.

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