Maruti Suzuki Ertiga

The Perfect Budget MPV

Most Maruti Suzuki cars in India are successful and sell in large numbers. The same is true of the Ertiga, but the Ertiga’s success is even more monumental because it was one of the first larger cars from the Indo-Japanese manufacturer to be successful in our market. The Ertiga paved the way for the Vitara Brezza (now on sale as Brezza) and the new Grand Vitara, paving the way for larger and costlier Maruti Suzukis. In a way, it did what ‘NEXA’ now does for the carmaker, and yet it has always been on sale in the ‘Arena’ showrooms, not NEXA.

One of the reasons for the Ertiga’s success was the gap left in the Indian MPV market once the Innova started getting pricier. The Ertiga offered the same ingredients as the Innova, but in a smaller, more cost effective package. But over the past few years, the competition has come back fighting, and the Ertiga competes against MPVs like the Kia Carens, as well as subcompact SUVs in its price bracket. Is it still the king of the segment? 

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Pros and Cons

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Exterior Design

When it comes to the design of the Ertiga, Maruti Suzuki has kept things simple and functional. But while doing that, it hasn’t let the appearance become boring. There are plenty of creases in the bumpers and light designs, and even the side profile has a good aesthetic appeal with the window line swooping up around the third row. The Ertiga carries the MPV DNA in its design, and it manages proportions beautifully. However, this generation of the Ertiga has been around for a while now, and the design has started to show its age.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Interiors

A similar story of blending function and form continues on the inside, where the design is basic, but not boring. The beige interiors in the MPV look upmarket, and the faux wood inserts add to the family car appeal. The air-con vents are housed behind a pseudo dashboard-width long diffuser, and the floating 7-inch touchscreen infotainment sits atop it. While overall quality and finish materials are good, there are hard plastics used, and in typical Maruti fashion, some switchgear used in the MPV has been borrowed from smaller Marutis.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Comfort

When a manufacturer is designing a vehicle that is inherently light but has to have a good amount of load carrying capacity, it has to make some compromises on the overall suspension setup. The Ertiga faces a similar issue. Since it is designed to carry people, the suspension also performs best when the car is loaded. When driven alone with no passengers or luggage, the Ertiga’s suspension is not as comfortable as you’d expect it to be, and you will feel a few bumps and thuds filter into the cabin. However, when you do have passengers on board, the Ertiga’s suspension settles beautifully, allowing for a pliant and comfortable ride. This also makes the Ertiga a great highway tourer, since the ride stays flat throughout, allowing for an effortless drive.

Many other factors also add up, making the Ertiga a good intercity commuter. There’s enough space in all rows, and even the third row can accommodate smaller adults over long distances. The seats also have  soft cushioning to exude a sense of comfort, and the beige interiors ensure the cabin feels airy.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Performance and Handling

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga has been designed to be an effortless car to drive, and it delivers. Whether it is city commutes or mile-munching on highways, the Ertiga does it all in a very calm and relaxed manner. It has not been designed to push hard, and when you do try to, it doesn’t give back much. The engine has a pretty flat torque curve with no mid-range punch, and you really have to work the gears if you want to get going. The engine, however, is very tractable, so when you’re driving with a light foot, it can pull from really low RPMs, allowing you to make fewer shifts.

Talking about shifting, it is the 5-speed manual gearbox that’s the pick of the lot on the Ertiga. The clutch action and the gear shifts are smooth and easy, and you won’t feel in need of an automatic even in traffic. It does miss out on a sixth gear though, and while it is not required from a performance standpoint, it would have been a good addition for highway cruising. The 6-speed automatic on the other hand is not as great. It does get paddle shifters, but the box is sluggish to shift, and you will have to rely on the paddles quite a lot when making a move.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Key specifications

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Safety Features

Based on Suzuki’s new Heartect platform, the Ertiga does a fair job when it comes to keeping its passengers safe. Having scored a 3-star rating from Global NCAP for adult and child crash protection, the new Ertiga does a better job at protecting its passengers than its predecessor, while still leaving room for improvement. It gets a handful of safety features too, including four airbags, ABS, EBD, Brake assist, ESP, hill hold, engine immobiliser, front seat belt pretensioners, ISOFIX child seat mounts, and more. Connected car features add another layer of safety by including emergency alerts, breakdown notifications, stolen vehicle notification and tracking, tow away alert and tracking, geofencing, time fencing, and valet alert. 

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Technology and Infotainment

In terms of equipment, the Ertiga has all the basics in place, despite not offering some premium features. It gets a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment which offers a handful of features, including wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay, and connected car features like remote start, smartwatch connectivity, and Alexa. The infotainment is paired to a six-speaker Arkamys surround sense music system, which has immersive sound. However, it continues to get an analogue instrument cluster with a small digital insert for odometer and trip computer readouts.

Is the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga for You?

The Ertiga is Maruti Suzuki’s champion when it comes to moving people. It can seat up to seven passengers with a commendable level of comfort, while costing less than some subcompact SUVs which can barely seat five. Its laid back and comfortable nature makes for an effortless highway cruiser as well as city commuter, and if you have a large family or carry luggage quite often, then the Ertiga is a great choice for you. Should you want something slightly more premium and feature rich, then the Maruti Suzuki XL6 is a great step up that offers most of the same in better clothing.