Honda Mobilio vs Maruti Ertiga: Spec comparison

You can buy more than half a dozen MPVs now in India starting with the Chevrolet Enjoy at the lower end of the spectrum right up to the Toyota Innova. The Mobilio is positioned a notch below the Innova where it will be jostling for space against the Maruti Ertiga. Here is ground zero in the MPV segment. Maruti must have been worried with the build up to the Mobilio launch but should it be too threatened or is there space for both to survive? We pit them against each other on paper and see if Honda has done a stellar job to make the Mobilio a segment leader or is it just good enough to co-exist.

Engines

Being an MPV, there’s going to be much greater demand for the diesel variants than the petrol ones because of the ability to travel long distance with seven people and/or luggage without burning a hole in your wallet. And so the diesels will be the main competitors. But for those who just don’t need the oil burner or prefer petrols, the Mobilio is the one to go for. The Ertiga is on par with the Mobilio among the diesels. Here’s how they stand – 

Petrol/Diesel

The petrol Mobilio is clearly the one to go for looking at these figures. Among the diesels, the Ertiga has identical torque figures but lower power rating losing out on 250cc extra capacity to the Mobilio i-DTEC mill. Both come mated with five-speed manuals for the petrol and diesel.

Size

It’s number crunching time when we talk about MPVs. Size is one of the crucial reasons for buying an MPV and between the two, let’s find out which one has more space. But first the flexibility. Here the Mobilio is a tad more flexible than the Ertiga in the third row which splits and reclines compared to the fixed bench in the Ertiga. Both MPVs get split sliding and folding middle row with centre armrests. Here’s how the two stack up on the measuring tape - 

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Honda is known for its packaging skills and going by the Brio and the Amaze, the Mobilio should provide decent amounts of space on the inside. How it compares to the Ertiga in reality, we’ll know when we compare them. On paper though, the Mobilio doesn’t stand out as a bigger MPV. The overall length is about 12 cm more in the Mobilio and that means there should be better flexibility and legroom on the inside. But width and height wise, the Ertiga is larger and it has a longer wheelbase too. It’s a closer fight here than we expected.

Features

Both cars come in three trims each. The Mobilio also has a RS trim but let us leave that out of the equation as it is more of a customization Maruti doesn’t offer. Of the crucial features on each variant that one lacks and the other offers, take a look at how these two cars match up –

There’s not much that separates the two, especially in the top-end variant. Among the base variants, the Mobilio is slightly better kitted and in the mid-spec variants, you gain some and lose some in either car. The diesels on both cars get ABS with EBD as standard on all diesel variants but only on the top-end petrol variant. As far as two front airbags are concerned, only the top-end trim gets them. 

Fuel Efficiency

Honda claims that the Mobilio is the most fuel efficient MPV in India and ARAI figures certainly prove that.

The petrol Ertiga despite being considerably low on power, returns a lower mileage. The gap between the diesel’s figures will be a decisive factor for customers opting for the Mobilio. 

Prices

Honda has priced its two recent cars, the Amaze and the City quite well and we think that the company has cracked the pricing bit well. Parts sharing for all crucial components like engines and gearboxes, interiors, front seats, a few body panels here and there, all give economies of scale and so the Mobilio could have been priced more keenly. But the Ertiga being a Maruti is one tough car to compete with in the pricing department, and as we found out, even Honda couldn’t manage that.

All prices are ex-showroom, Delhi. The price gap between the base variants is about Rs 70,000 which isn’t much of a premium to pay between the petrols as you get considerably more power in the Mobilio. But when you move higher, the gap widens to about Rs 1.3 lakh between the top-end variants. As we saw above, the Mobilio isn’t being offered with many extra set of features over the Ertiga, so this premium feels a bit too high.