Auto Expo 2016: Maruti showcases Vitara Brezza (now launched)

[Roshun]

UPDATE (09/03): The Maruti Vitara Brezza has been launched at a starting price of Rs. 6.99 lakh. For full details of the variants and pricing of the Brezza CLICK HERE.
Maruti first showcased the Vitara Brezza at the Auto Expo 2016. This compact SUV competes with the Ford EcoSport and the Mahindra TUV300. More importantly, it also falls in the same price band at the Maruti Suzuki Baleno, which will put quite a few buyers in a dilemma now - should you buy a Brezza or a Baleno? We've got a comparison HERE that can help you with that. The Auto Expo had just an unveiling of the Brezza. Many dealers started taking bookings with deposits of around Rs. 20,000 for the Vitara Brezza unofficially, when actually official bookings opened on March 8. Within a day of the launch, the Brezza already reported about 2,600 bookings. Deliveries of the Brezza will start only on March 21. Here is the FIRST DRIVE REVIEW of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza.

The Maruti Vitara Brezza will come in six variants - LDI, LDI (O), VDI, VDI (O), ZDI and ZDI+. The optional variants on LDI and VDI offer safety kit of two airbags and ABS.

Here's a quick look at the specifications of the Brezza variant wise:

The Vitara Brezza will be powered by a 1248 cc, four-cylinder diesel engine, mated to a five-speed manual transmission. This is the only engine choice that India will get, although a petrol variant would be offered for the export market. We expect it might get the 1-litre booster-jet petrol engine that puts out 110PS of power later.

Here's a look at the technical specifications of the Maruti Vitara Brezza:

Researched by VDA method
** Minimum Ground Clearance mentioned is in unladen condition.

For a look at how the Maruti Vitara Brezza compares with the Ford Ecosport, TUV300, Maruti Baleno and the Maruti Dzire, click HERE

[Roshun]

The Brezza is powered by Maruti's tried and tested 1.3 DDIS, multijet diesel engine. It puts out 90PS of power and 200 Nm of torque - this is the same power specs that you would find in the diesel Maruti Ertiga and Maruti Ciaz. It comes with a five-speed gearbox and is front-wheel drive only.

The car has slightly less boot space compared to the Ford EcoSport, which has 346 litres compared to the Brezza which has just 328 litres.

[Roshun]

The styling of the Brezza is quite different from what the original concept was - if you recall the Maruti XA Alpha showcased a couple of years ago. Yet, it has all the right lines. The aggressive grille, projector headlamps, daytime running lamps are all part of standard kit. Maruti is now getting quite safety conscious, as all variants of the Brezza have airbags and ABS.

Here's a front-on look of the Vitara Brezza. It does look quite aggressive. Note the "bull-horn" headlamps with daytime running lamps flanking it. The fog lamps and indicators below add to that aggressive touch on the Brezza.

[Roshun]

The styling at the rear of the Maruti Brezza is fairly conservative, with the tail-lamps wrapping on to the tailgate. The dual-tone paint job on the Brezza adds a sporty touch. If anything, we think this car would sell on looks alone. Of course, the familiar mechanicals and common parts bin are a bonus. I won't be surprised if Maruti sees a fairly long line for this car, but of course that depends on the pricing. Prices of the Brezza will be announced later.

[Roshun]

And here's a look at the interiors of the Vitara Brezza. The interiors are quite familiar. The centre console has a piano-black finish. This ZDI+ variant has a touchscreen infotainment system. Those familiar with Maruti cars such as the Swift and Ciaz, will find the interiors of the Brezza also quite familiar.

The rear has a 60:40 split folding seat, which adds some versatility to the luggage area.

The seats of the Brezza look fairly comfortable and snug for four adults.
The Brezza rides on 215/60 R16 tyres - this is a pretty wide tyre, wider than most sedans and adds to the meaty SUV look of the Brezza. The alloys look neat too.

The Maruti Brezza is quite feature rich. It comes with push-button ignition, power-folding mirrors on the top-end. These are features most buyers in this segment (we expect it to be priced in the Rs. 7 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh range) would expect.

The Brezza also features steering audio controls and cruise control on the ZDI+ variant that was showcased at the Expo.

Looking for more photos of the Brezza? Here is a gallery from our Auto Expo site:
http://www.zigwheels.com/autoexpo/20...-Photo-Gallery

[Roshun]

Here are two video walkarounds of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza from our teams:

[Lokesh]

When will its petrol version come in to the market?

[NikilSJ]

Maruti Suzuki unveiled its all-new Vitara Brezza compact SUV at the Auto Expo this year. When launched, the Vitara Brezza will go up against some tough competition in the form of Mahindra’s TUV 300 and Ford’s EcoSport. Since the Vitara Brezza will only be available with a diesel for now, let’s take a look at what the compact SUV has to offer and if it will be a worthy competitor in this hotly contested segment.
Design and Dimension
The Vitara Brezza was developed ground up by the folks at Maruti and features design cues from its larger European sibling, the Vitara.
The Ford EcoSport has been around for sometime now and is one of Ford’s more popular models in the country but sales of the EcoSport have plummeted since the launch of Mahindra’s TUV 300.
The TUV 300 or Tough Utility Vehicle has a more traditional SUV design when compared to the EcoSport and unlike the Ford and Maruti, it is based on a ladder frame chassis. The boxy stance of the TUV 300 gives it a rugged appeal and this is one aspect that is currently helping it sell like hot cakes across the country.

Engine
The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza uses the tried and tested ‘national’ engine, the 1.3-litre DDiS 200 sourced from Fiat. Although the 1.3-litre DDiS 200 is quite peppy in nature, I’m still not sure if its a good choice for the Vitara Brezza considering the fact that the weight of the compact SUV could weigh it down.
The TUV 300 on the other hand gets a three-cylinder diesel engine. The mHawk 80, though torquey, feels a bit unrefined when compared to the 1.3-litre DDiS or even Ford’s 1.5-litre TDCi engine. But being a Mahindra, I’m pretty sure the engine will be reliable in the long run and quite adept at handling our conditions.
Ford’s 1.5-litre TDCi engine has been around for as long as the 1.3-litre Multijet/DDiS engine and is known for its performance and with the recent updates to the EcoSport, the engine has gained more power as well.

[NikilSJ]

Lokesh only a diesel version has been confirmed for now. If Maruti does plan on introducing a petrol-powered variant, it could either be the K12B 1.2-litre engine that is currently used in the Swift and the Baleno or the 1-litre Boosterjet turbocharged petrol that was previewed in the Baleno RS at the Auto Expo 2016.

[SHAIKH_TAJAMMUL]

good looking vitara brezza from suzuki

[kaiserketkar]

The Vitara Brezza is a drastic climbdown from the XAalpha concept, to the point of wondering why Suzuki even bothered with a concept car. The side profile in particular looks quite similar to the Creta. I feel this design is understated and elegant, but it's not going to look fresh for a very long time. It'll start appearing dated rather quickly.
Then again, people never bought a Suzuki because it looks good. It offers value for money [hopefully], a decent service and a reasonably trouble free ownership experience.

[NikilSJ]

kaiserketkar totally agree with you on why Maruti Suzuki even bothered with a concept as the Vitara Brezza looks so bland. If you remember, even the A-Star concept was a stunning looking car. So stunning that MotuSid and me couldn't stop drooling over the pictures in college. When the production version was launched we were so disappointed and that's when our love-hate relationship with Maruti began. I'm pretty sure the Vitara Brezza will look outdated soon enough, but boy oh boy is it going to sell like hot cakes. My only concern is when sales start picking up, I hope the waiting periods don't shoot up as this will put off a lot of customers.

[kaiserketkar]

[USER="11"]but boy oh boy is it going to sell like hot cakes. My only concern is when sales start picking up, I hope the waiting periods don't shoot up as this will put off a lot of customers.

I doubt it'll sell like hotcakes. MS haven't really had much luck in the 10+lac segment. Except the Ciaz. The S-Cross bombed doing a measly 2-3k/mth compared to the Creta's 6-7k/mth. Brand image, looks and price are three things that didn't go in it's favor. Out of these, the price remains to be seen. If they manage some sort of a coup with pricing, it'll sell good numbers. If they get greedy or overconfident with the price, then it'll go the S-Cross way.
One thing that is in it's favor is that it'll be sold thru the regular dealers and not the Nexa dealership, thereby ensuring a wider audience.
Let's see what happens <fingers crossed>

[Roshun]

The launch of the Maruti Vitara Brezza is just around the corner and, of course, this highly anticipated compact SUV was spotted this morning at the Yamuna Expressway. Not one, but about four of them. The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza was probably there as part of a shoot for its advertising commercial. What's intriguing is that all the four spotted had different number plates - from different states. We think it's probably part of the story line for the ad shoot, where folks from various parts of the country drive up to meet at some point - kind of like some of our forum members do .

The Vitara Brezza will come in four variants - LDi, VDi, ZDi and ZDi+ with optional kit being offered on the first two variants, for a total of six variants.
We earlier only saw the Brezza under the arc lights of the Auto Expo, but I must say the vehicle does stand out when seen in the open. It does instil that sense of wanting to just get in and drive. The dual tone body colour with bronze and white looks pretty nice. I don't quite like that slab of chrome on the grille though. The one below in black and red looks quite good too. Simple, straight lines which are quite appealing. Look at the squared off wheel arches which give it that more rugged look by revealing some of the suspension componentry from the side.

Still, I think the hottest looking colour of the lot, is actually the coolest one. The dual tone Blue and White as seen on this ZDi+ variant seen below. But again, that chrome with Brezza embossed in it over the licence plate is a bit overdone. I think it would look great in matt black or dark grey for that matter. What say?


And then, there's this Brezza with its roof chopped off - which has obviously been done for the ad shoot, so that some nice aerial shots of the whole happy family can be filmed from above.

The launch is just around the corner, as we mentioned - on March 8. Expect prices to start around Rs. 6 lakh and go up to Rs. 9 lakh across the range. They will all come only in diesel at the moment, powered by the tried and tested 1.3 litre multijet diesel putting out 90PS of power at 4000 rpm and 200 Nm of torque at 1750 rpm. Petrol variants may come in later, with Maruti considering getting in the BoosterJet 1-litre turbo-petrol. This will definitely give the Ford EcoSport Ecoboost variant a run for its money. However, given that the pricing of the Vitara Brezza is likely to overlap with the Maruti Baleno, the Brezza will be sold through regular Maruti dealerships only, while the Baleno is sold through Nexa - to try to avoid some cannibalization between the two to an extent.

And here's a list of the variant wise specs that were leaked a while ago, courtesy Overdrive:

[NikilSJ]

That shade of blue looks very cool. Roshun even I find the chrome bits a bit overdone. In fact, that grille would have looked really good if it were in gloss or matte black. But I don't find anything special in the Brezza's design. It feels like the Brezza's looks will age faster than Maruti Suzuki would like it to.