Maruti Suzuki has announced that its all-new midsize SUV has been christened the Grand Vitara. Bookings for the new Maruti SUV are now open for Rs 11,000.
As we had reported before, the new Grand Vitara will be built by Toyota and share its underpinnings with the recently unveiled Hyryder SUV. The global debut for the Maruti Grand Vitara will take place on July 20, 2022. Both SUVs are expected to go into production next month and will see their market launches thereafter.
- Will come with strong and mild hybrid powertrains
- To be sold via Nexa outlets
Maruti Grand Vitara brand's comeback kid for India
The name Grand Vitara is not new for Maruti – the second-gen Grand Vitara (XL7) and the third-gen Grand Vitara SUV were sold in India as full imports. The upcoming midsize SUV will have India as one of its manufacturing hubs and will be exported to multiple overseas markets.
We'd reported last month that the new Maruti midsize SUV will most likely take the “Vitara” branding. The second-gen Brezza SUV too dropped the “Vitara” prefix, allowing Maruti to use the branding for the upcoming car.
The Maruti Grand Vitara, now in its fifth-generation, is a sister model to the Toyota Hyryder and will be built at the latter's Bidadi plant in Karnataka. Both SUVs will use Suzuki’s Global-C platform that has already formed the base for popular models, such as both generations of the Brezza for India, the S-Cross, and also the outgoing Maruti Grand Vitara SUV, which was sold overseas.
The SUVs will also share powertrains – 1.5-litre mild-hybrid and 1.5-litre strong hybrid powerplant options – and will also have an AWD option.
While both SUVs will look more or less identical from the sides and at the rear, their front styling is expected to be completely different. We have already seen the Hyryder, and its styling mimics Toyota’s larger SUVs sold abroad, while spy shots confirm that the Grand Vitara will have styling bits similar to the Suzuki ACross SUV sold in Europe. Other aspects like body panels and interior elements will be common in the two SUVs as well.
Grand Vitara to be the most advanced Maruti SUV
The feature list too will be similar on the Hyryder and the Maruti Grand Vitara. With equipments like panoramic sunroof, premium leather interiors, a soft-touch dashboard and a full hybrid powertrain, the new Grand Vitara will be Maruti’s most technologically advanced and feature-laden SUV for India till date.
Expect Maruti to reveal more details on the new Grand Vitara SUV in the run up to its global debut on July 20. The prices will be announced sometime in the second half of August 2022, after the Toyota Hyryder's prices are revealed.
Dipan Sur
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Glenn Noronha
Dhruv Dhaka
