Maruti Suzuki is all set to announce the price for one of its biggest launches of the year – the Grand Vitara SUV. While the carmaker has not revealed the exact date for the official price launch, it is expected to happen within this month to get maximum traction ahead of the festive month. At around 54,000 bookings, early indications are already pointing to a challenge to other established rivals in the mid-size SUV space. However, the success of Grand Vitara would also depend on how compelling its price structure is.
Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara will take a straight aim at its Korean rivals like the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos, the two best-selling SUVs in the mid-size category. Both the Korean SUVs, which come loaded with features, are priced between the range of ₹10.44 lakh to ₹18.65 lakh. The Grand Vitara, which offers more powertrain options and features like Head-up Display, AllGrip technology is likely to be priced slightly above that range.
A hint at Grand Vitara’s pricing can be gauged from how Toyota Motor priced the Urban Cruiser , technical cousin to the Maruti SUV. The HyRyder price starts at ₹15.11 lakh (ex-showroom) for its entry-level strong hybrid variants. The top-spec V eDrive 2WD HYBRID has been launched at almost ₹19 lakh (ex-showroom). The pricing for the mild-hybrid versions are awaited.
While Grand Vitara has both mild hybrid and strong hybrid variants, it also offers a petrol manual with all-wheel drive technology. The base variants like Sigma, Delta and Zeta will be offered with both manual and automatic transmissions, and are likely to take on the lower variants of the Creta and Seltos. The variants with e-CVT transmission and AllGrip badging are expected to cost above ₹15 lakh slab.
The Grand Vitara will be offered with a 1.5 litre Intelligent Electric Hybrid and a 1.5 litre Smart Hybrid powertrain. The option to pick a hybrid variant over the standard ICE variants will give Grand Vitara and edge over Creta and , which are offered only in petrol and diesel.
The mild-hybrid variants of the Grand Vitara, which include the Sigma, Delta, Zeta and Alpha, are likely to be priced between ₹11 lakh and ₹15 lakh bracket.
