Suzuki Working On Vitara-Sized Crossover; Could Be Maruti’s Upcoming Creta-Rival

Maruti has already confirmed that an SUV bigger than the Brezza is heading to India

(In Pictures: Suzuki Vitara)

Last year, we reported about Maruti’s plans to bring a new compact SUV over the popular Vitara Brezza in India by the end of 2019. With Suzuki having only two other SUVs over the Brezza in its global lineup (S-Cross is already on sale in India), we thought Maruti could either bring the facelift of the larger Vitara, which is due very soon, or a brand-new Grand Vitara. However, it has now come to light that Suzuki is developing a new crossover that is likely to hit the Australian market by 2020.

Managing officer and executive general manager of Suzuki, Kinji Saito, recently revealed to an Australian website that the company is looking to offer a new crossover, which is expected to be of the same size as the Vitara, there by 2020. The proximity between the launch dates of both the upcoming products suggested by RC Bhargava, the CEO and chairman of Maruti Suzuki, and Saito force us to believe that both the officials could be talking about the same product.

The upcoming crossover is expected to be based on the same platform that underpins the Vitara, the S-Cross and the Vitara Brezza. The UK-spec Suzuki Vitara is 4175mm long, 1775mm wide and 1610mm tall. It has a wheelbase of 2500mm and stands 185mm over ground. That makes it shorter and narrower than the Creta by 95mm and 5mm, respectively. But the S-Cross, a crossover built on this platform, is 30mm longer and 5mm wider than the Creta. It goes on to show that this platform can produce compact SUVs of varying sizes.

Prices for the Hyundai Creta start from Rs 10 lakh for the base variant with the diesel engine and go up to Rs 14.59 for the top-end variant. The S-Cross, on the other hand, undercuts the Hyundai by a big margin, with the starting price set at Rs 8.61 lakh, going up to Rs 11.32 lakh. It is available with a diesel engine only. We believe Maruti could be looking at a crossover or an SUV-like product over the S-Cross which could take on the Creta’s top variants. If that happens, the new crossover could be bigger than the Creta but priced at par with Hyundai’s best-selling SUV to make a strong case for itself.

The carmaker is reportedly developing new 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines which could power all its bigger cars starting from the Ertiga. If the crossover comes to India, we expect to find these engines under the bonnet.

In terms of pricing, the new crossover is likely to cost around Rs 11-16 lakh. It will lock horns with the higher variants of the Hyundai Creta and the lower variants of the Jeep Compass.

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