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Maruti Suzuki Victoris SUV: For Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, the SUV segment has been a bit of a hit and a miss. While it leads in the entry-level SUV category with its Brezza and Fronx models, the mid segment is where the company has uncharacteristically struggled to dominate in the face of a really formidable competitor – the Hyundai Creta. The Japanese carmaker’s ambition to become the market leader in the mid-SUV segment, one of the fastest-growing and crowded vehicle categories of the Indian car market, is somewhat reflected in the badging of its new product – the Victoris.
Not that Maruti Suzuki does not already have a rival to the Creta. The Grand Vitara has been around since 2022, exactly in the same segment. So why bother with a second car? Apart from the fact that the Victoris is more than a souped-up Grand Vitara, the new offering has distinctly different design lines and a lot more features thrown in, including the distinction of being Maruti’s first domestic offering with level-2 ADAS features. The biggest difference, though, is the choice of showrooms – the Grand Vitara is retailed from Maruti’s premium Nexa outlets while the Victoris will now be the flagship model to be sold from Maruti’s Arena outlets. Roughly, for every Nexa showroom in India, there are about six Arena showrooms. The wider, pan-India network reach could give Maruti Suzuki the muscle to take on the Creta. That is an implicit bet by the Japanese carmaker.
And while the Victoris comes into the Arena fold as its new flagship car, the recently debuted eVitara – Maruti’s first electric vehicle that has already started to hit the export markets – would be coming into its Nexa showrooms in the coming months.
Broadly, there are three segments in India’s SUV market — the entry (sub 4 metre category), mid and premium segments. “In the entry segment, we are the market leader. In mid-SUV, we are not the market leader. Our aspiration is to become the market leader in this segment. We do not operate in the premium segment,” Partho Banerjee, Maruti Suzuki’s head of marketing and sales function said. Unlike the Grand Vitara, this new car will not be shared by Maruti Suzuki with Toyota Kirloskar.
The Victoris’ design lines are more angular, almost Volkswagenish. But, broadly, the design cues are quite neutral, which perhaps is a bet on gaining a wider appeal. There are a few borrowed design cues from the new Suzuki eVitara, like the somewhat smoothened-out front end, while the side profile has a some resemblance to both the Brezza and the Grand Vitara. The more aerodynamic design of the car, Maruti executives said, could mean marginally more mileage than the Grand Vitara, and the use of low rolling-resistance Ceat tyres would help too.
While Maruti Suzuki has thrown in more features that include ADAS functions, a new steering wheel and instrument cluster, bigger 10.1 inch touchscreen, a built-in PM 2.5 filter and potent Infinity speaker systems in the top specs. Maruti Suzuki engineers also tweaked the design of the CNG model to ensure that the tank is underneath the car and does not eat into the boot space – which is quite a standout feature. But then, they’ve also done some cost cutting – the spare tyre has been dispensed with in all Victoris models, and replaced with only a puncture repair kit as an alternative. Not just the CNG, but all models. Also, the hybrid boot, as in the Grand Vitara, is considerably smaller due to the battery pack underneath.
The Victoris is the first Maruti ever to get Level-2 ADAS, and safety tweaks mean the car is rated five star in both Bharat NCAP and Global NCAP crash tests. Under the hood, when it comes to power train options, almost exactly as in the Grand Vitara, there are a lot of choices on offer. The 1.5 litre mild hybrid petrol engine with a 5-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic, an all-wheel drive model mated to the 6-speed auto and the same mill running on CNG are on offer. Then there is the strong hybrid that gives incredible fuel efficiency, which is currently deployed in the Grand Vitara and the Toyota Hyryder. The mild hybrid does feel a tad underpowered, especially the automatic model that is heavily tuned for mileage. To compensate, the 6-speed torque converter auto comes with paddle shifters that enable a downshift for a quick overtake.
The full hybrid is remarkably peppy to drive and is the drivetrain of choice. It is superb at slow speeds, but the 3-cylinder engine sourced from Toyota, while having the grunt, does make some noise if one were to step on the accelerator.
The ADAS function, surprisingly only available on the automatic with the mild hybrid petrol engine, works on a pretty well marked road, the blind-spot monitors issuing handy warnings and adaptive cruise control likely to really help on a highway, though there is always the danger of abrupt braking if another vehicle were to butt in suddenly. According to Maruti engineers, the calibration of the ADAS is suited to Indian conditions, but not too quick to react to compensate for the unpredictability of Indian roads.
Will the helpful push from Maruti’s vast Arena showroom network, and a really aggressive introductory pricing, help the new contender dethrone the mighty Creta? That is the big question. The car is quite a package, and a helpful sales pitch could help the Victoris get some much-needed traction and emerge victorious in the super competitive mid-SUV segment.
(The Victoris drive in Jaipur was arranged by Maruti Suzuki)
