Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara pros and cons — Missed opportunity?

The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, together, are sort of outliers in the C-segment SUV space in India, in the sense that they are the only cars that get the option of a proper hybrid powertrain. They also happen to be the first products that have jointly been developed by Toyota and Maruti Suzuki under their global alliance. Here are the top Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara pros and cons.

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara pros 

Fuel efficiency

Marutis are the best when it comes to fuel efficiency, and the Grand Vitara takes this up another level with Toyota’s hybrid system. The Grand Vitara hybrid has a claimed fuel economy of 27.97kmpl, which is brilliant for the segment. The non-hybrid variants aren’t bad either, with claimed figures of 26.6km/kg for the CNG variants, 21.11kmpl for the petrol-manual variants, 20.58kmpl for the petrol-automatic variants, and 19.38kmpl for the all-wheel drive variants.

Only AWD in the segment

Speaking of all-wheel drive variants, the Grand Vitara is the only car in the segment that gets the option of an AWD configuration (apart from the Hyryder, of course). It is only available with a manual transmission though and not the automatic. There are various modes to choose from including Snow, Sport, Lock, and Auto.

Bulletproof reliability

Maruti Suzuki and Toyota are both known for making super reliable cars, and when they come together, the reliability factor only gets stronger. The petrol variants get Suzuki’s tried and tested K-Series engine and the hybrid variants get Toyota’s hybrid system, and you can’t really go wrong with that.

The fact that the Grand Vitara is such a reliable car makes it a safe option to go for in the used car market, and you can check out some used Grand Vitara cars here.

Check This Out: Toyota Innova Crysta vs Hycross mileage — Claimed vs real life figures

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara cons

Underpowered petrol and CNG variants

The petrol and CNG variants of the Grand Vitara are comparatively underpowered and low on torque too, especially for the size of the car. Other rivals of the SUV get fairly sufficient power and torque outputs and that makes the Vitara’s case weaker.

Poor packaging

The Grand Vitara falls behind on rear seat space, which is a key factor considering the segment that it plays in. The boot space is also compromised, especially on the hybrid variants, due to the awkward placement of the battery pack.

Also Read: Is it the end of the diesel era?

Expensive hybrid options that the Hyryder

The strong hybrid variants of the Grand Vitara are more expensive than the ones of the Urban Cruiser Hyryder due to the hybrid tech being sourced from Toyota. Also, the renowned service experience of Toyota that too for a lesser price makes the Hyryder more appealing than the Vitara.

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