Maruti launched the Vitara Brezza, its first compact SUV, on March 8 last year, following an Auto Expo 2016 reveal. Since then, the Brezza has taken the segment –  which was once the domain of the Ford EcoSport – by storm. 

In the period from March 2016 to January 2017, the Vitara Brezza has gone home to 94,100 owners, averaging sales of 8,554 units a month. Maruti sold 10,046 Brezzas in February 2017, which means overall sales crossed the landmark one lakh units in less than a year. It even managed to outsell the very popular Creta.

The Brezza is available in six variants and currently has a waiting period of five months. Higher trims have even longer waiting periods at some dealerships. The Brezza ticks all the right boxes and at a starting price of Rs 7.26 lakh offers good value. The top-spec Brezza ZDi Plus variant costs Rs 9.70 lakh and comes with a decent feature list.

This compact SUV is powered by the tried-and-tested 1.3-litre diesel engine. There is no automatic gearbox or a petrol engine on offer, though a petrol version is quite likely to be launched soon.

The Brezza undercuts the Ford EcoSport which received a mild update recently, in terms of pricing (the Ford is priced between Rs 7.76 lakh and Rs 10.19 lakh for the diesel variants). Other rivals to the Brezza include the Mahindra TUV300 and the NuvoSport.

(All prices are ex-showroom, Delhi.)