Team-BHP - Maruti Vitara Brezza : Official Review

Superb review as always. Rated 5 stars.
The most interesting thing is the competition. This is basically a compact SUV yet it's competitors cover a range from the compact SUVs to some of the full on SUVs and even a crossover. Basically a single product to take on the whole lot of comers. And if the booking numbers are anything to go by, most comers are being beaten. Only the Creta doesn't fall in this due to it's much higher price.

Saw the Brezza up close first time yesterday. Even 30 minutes after first laying my eyes on it i still found myself looking at it again and again. Definitely a good looking car. Clean, well propotioned and surprisingly smart.

The interiors were nice and new but i realised they faded after a few minutes. I mean i felt i was going to forget them in a while. I did not drive the car.

I think its going to be a success in the short term but i still don't think its going reach the heights of Swift/Elite20/Ecosport/City or even Creta in the long run.

I still do not understand how they will bring in the petrol variants later.
The Boosterjet 1 liter turbo petrol will presumably be a premium offering.
Plonking it on the Brezza, they will be left with a confusion on whether to stick to the premium image of the engine or price the Petrol Variant lower than the Diesel. A similar situation where they have to think whether to launch a car through regular MS showrooms or NEXA !!

They did not plonk the 1.4 k series in this as it takes away the pricing advantage.

It is a no brainer that if they want to sell Petrol Brezza's, it will have to be the Boosterjet and will have to be priced lower than the Diesel, but will they?

Because they will bring it in the Baleno and price it at a premium.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant (Post 3950131)

The Boosterjet 1 liter turbo petrol will presumably be a premium offering.
Plonking it on the Brezza, they will be left with a confusion on whether to stick to the premium image of the engine or price the Petrol Variant lower than the Diesel. A similar situation where they have to think whether to launch a car through regular MS showrooms or NEXA !!

They did not plonk the 1.4 k series in this as it takes away the pricing advantage.

It is a no brainer that if they want to sell Petrol Brezza's, it will have to be the Boosterjet and will have to be priced lower than the Diesel, but will they?

Because they will bring it in the Baleno and price it at a premium.

They can always put bigger Petrol engine and put the SHVS technology to bring down the tax rates!

Possible Petrol engines:

1.4L K-series
1.6L M-series
1.6L G-series (old Baleno engine). I was wondered to see that this G16 engine is still in production in Australia, for the APV. Refer: http://www.suzuki.com.au/vehicles/va...ns#tpowertrain

1.4L / 1.6L Petrol Brezza with SHVS can be priced starting at 6L Ex-showroom Delhi (even less with the old G16!).
Baleno Petrol starts at around 5.15L, so there is a significant gap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by romeomidhun (Post 3950041)

IMO, Nexa will be used by Suzuki if they have to brand their cars without the "Maruti" badge at a later stage, when the Gujrat plant comes alive. Even though Suzuki says that they will sell the cars to Maruti to market through Maruti dealership network, at a later stage, if any resistance comes, NEXA will be made use by Suzuki to establish their own sales channel, IMO.

+1. Don't ask me how I know this, but the Gujarat plant & office is registered with the name Suzuki Motors Gujarat Pvt. Ltd. It might not mean anything, but you never know :OT

Coming to the brezza/review, saw the car in flesh & it is one of the better looking cars in the market right now & definitely the best from Marutis stable. From the rear, it looks smaller than it is & a rear mounted wheel would have made up for that. Yet to TD both the Brezza & the Ecosport but already the heart & the mind battles have begun :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourabhzen (Post 3949753)

Putting Brezza at par with Mobilio is bit harsh and biased.

Agreed. The Mobilio has terrible interiors compared to a superb exterior design.
The Brezza has an average interior design compared to a well-designed exterior.

I saw the side profile on the road. It looks fab. I would say that this is the best looking Maruti ever. Somehow, I feel that the rear tailgate is plain-jane compared to the rest of the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r0nit7 (Post 3950208)

From the rear, it looks smaller than it is & a rear mounted wheel would have made up for that.

lol:I don't know what you compared it with to say it looks small from the rear. When people came to check out our new car(SUV is also a car I assume) the first reaction was " Man!:Shockked: this thing is huge ". It's kept covered due to construction going on just meters from the garage. The first thing they see is the rear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anycatd (Post 3950236)

I didn't mean to say it's small or compared it to anything, just that from the rear profile it doesn’t seem to be as big as it really is when you view it from the other two profiles (re-qouting myself here from smaller to not as big :D)

Amazingly detailed review! 5 Stars for that
I was literally awestruck when I saw this

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tushar (Post 3949370)

Load bearing capacity = 1 kg. Preferred place to carry cash or valuables - out of sight for any thief. In case you were wondering, 1 kg means ~8 lakh rupees in 1,000 rupee notes:

Now, how did you weigh it? :eek:

Coming to the car, MSIL have filled up their vacuum segment area with a very well rounded package. Going by the 5-star review, the car looks like a 3.5 star car.
No leather wheel, flat rear bench with the need for better support, no petrol, average NVH package and some other cost cutting measures taking away that 1.5 stars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tushar (Post 3949372)

Li'l baggage hook behind the driver's seat can be used for bags that weigh up to 3 kg. You can fold it in when not in use:

I somehow feel that this hook is dangerous in cases of collision.
When my M800 was involved in a collision, my wife who was sitting behind me had cuts on her forehead because of a small concealed pin used to secure the additional seat covers it had. Nobody else in our car had any scratches.

And this hook is a big hard thing in the centre and if it is open during a collision it may pose a danger I feel

Quote:

Floor underneath the front seat isn't flat. Feels very awkward when the front half of your foot is in the air! This is a unique problem that we haven't experienced in any other car:

Pardon me, I didn't understand this completely. Is there a depression in the floor towards the driver side half of the seat?

Brezza in 2 color is a clear winner for me. It really is a head turner and has killer looks. It will also become cash cow for the MSIL. I hope Maruti will bring at least 2-3 more color combinations in it soon.

Maruti has a real winner in hand. I am hoping that once production is up for both Baleno and Brezza, Maruti can cross 50% market share. Hopefully more and more Nexa showrooms will also come up for the help here. Great to see Maruti coming long way from M800 and Omni days, though Omni is still in the market and doing great ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 3949391)

Equally, while the Vitara Brezza is a competent Maruti, my pick would be the EcoSport. The EcoSport has solid build quality, noticeably more so than the Brezza. In terms of equipment, I get 6 Airbags, telescopic steering adjustment, better sound quality from the ICE, more supportive leather seats...(these are important to me). The EcoSport's diesel offers superior driveability & refinement. Petrol or AT is a no-brainer as the Vitara Brezza doesn't have either. Period. The American also holds the handling advantage (although the Maruti is good and doesn't leave any room for complaints)

Hope, Ford just doesn't dilute the features in an attempt to make the crowd look at its way. Ford, please, do not even think of it.

All said, is there something more to a vehicle than the ever important sticker price?? Heck!! there is!!! This is another volume product which is nevertheless a block buster and that's pretty much about it. Nopes, your grand children will definitely not talk about you for owing this car!! stupid:

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 3949391)

[b].

Equally, while the Vitara Brezza is a competent Maruti, my pick would be the EcoSport. The EcoSport has solid build quality, noticeably more so than the Brezza. In terms of equipment, I get 6 Airbags, telescopic steering adjustment, better sound quality from the ICE, more supportive leather seats...(these are important to me). The EcoSport's diesel offers superior driveability & refinement. The American also holds the handling advantage (although the Maruti is good and doesn't leave any room for complaints).
Those who know their cars though might be pulled in the direction of the Ford whose depth of engineering simply feels richer.

Rightly said GTO.clap:

Can't stop laughing at this crazy question in my head.
Q)What would have happened if it was a "Maruti Suzuki Ecosport" and a "Ford Brezza" ?

A) Maruti Ecosport would be doing sales in 4 digit numbers even after 3 years.
All new Ford Brezza would be selling single digit numbers and would have become another Fiesta:uncontrol.
That's what a brand can do to a product.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ysak (Post 3949940)

Thinking about upgrading my 2010 Swift VDi .
Had a look at the Brezza 2 weeks ago.

Swift VDI to Brezza VDI would be a lateral move and not be an upgrade.
Worthy upgrade would be an S CROSS 1.6 in my opinion

Wonderful Review !!! All the small aspects never seen in other Reviews covered. Well done !!! Maruti will do work right for Indian Market !!!
They have got most of the things spot on for Indian Customer (considering ZDI and ZDI+ below).
1. Price - is not costing a bomb (read under 4m) - Check
2. Exterior Design - Dual Color , Wider tyres and neat looking alloys, sloping roof, Large grill and Front Fascia , newer design - Check
3. Interior - Long list of features , Spacious back , good view from Driver's seat, fantastic headroom , Acceptable build Quality ( to most) - Check
4. Safety - ABS, Airbags (driver & Passenger in high variants) - Check
5. Mileage - Best in class - Check
6. Maruti Sales & Service - Not in Nexa - Check
7. Engine - National Engine of India - Punchy midrange - Check
8. Ride - Good - check

Few things Maruti could have done better
Interior build Quality (soft plastics) and mostly the Steering wheel - They have to create a sporty steering (or at least leather stitched) and the Power Window buttons.
They could have considered leather package and 6 airbags
Petrol and Automatic options at launch - (I think they will study the response and save these for festive season bookings).

The other things which we can't expect for sub compact SUV
Bigger Boot
Well proportioned Look ( like Creta - but Maruti has done very good job to look Brezza better in all angles unlike subcompact sedans like Dzire)

Few things cannot help if the car is success and that too from Maruti !!!
WAITING PERIOD.

Ford Ecosport still looks better even after three years of launch considering the reduced price now and suitable for day to day city drive.

What an elegant looking car! Along with those classy interiors in all black, the Brezza looks very attractive. Hope more manufacturers get inspired by the design. We are running short of elegance in design quite a bit over here. :)

And to top it, Premium Silver is one of the best shades by Suzuki. I became a fan of this shade with the Kizashi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tushar (Post 3949372)

Tail gate opens upward like a regular hatchback. EcoSport and TUV300 have tailgates that open sideways. One issue is that the boot needs to be slammed shut. It doesn’t seem to lock in place very easily. Lost count of the number of times we had to stop the car during our test-drive because whoever shut the boot didn't do it with force:

This can be fixed easily. We had the same trouble with our Swift when the car came from the factory. Took it to the MASS body shop during one of the initial services and they aligned the hook on the door sill by changing the angle a bit and also by playing with the screw type rubber bushes on the gate. It just took less than 10 minutes and the tailgate could close under its on weight after that. :) So, those who have trouble with this can get this rectified even during delivery.

And we never had trouble with it again on the Swift. Don't know why MSIL fails to check this during PDI at factory.

PS: We should add this point to the T-BHP PDI checklist for all MSIL hatchbacks. LOL