Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza has been the top selling car in the segment ever since the maker launched in the Indian market. While a rival like Ford EcoSport was already present at the time of the launch of Brezza in the Indian market, the arrival of several other rivals like the Tata Nexon, and recently Mahindra XUV300 could not make a large dent in the sales of the Brezza in market. However, this was only true for a few months ago, as the arrival of the Venue SUV in the Indian market by country’s second largest carmaker Hyundai has managed to get the going tough for the Brezza in India. Before the launch of Venue in the market, the SUV from the largest carmaker of India averaged around 15,000 units per month but the sales figures for June show that Maruti could only manage to sell 8,000 units of Brezza with the Hyundai Venue biting close at the heels of the Brezza with near similar number of units.
The fall in sales of Brezza could also be attributed to the fact that the auto industry is going through a slowdown but then again, the Hyundai Venue has managed to rack up more than decent numbers. Yes, Hyundai Venue is a new car in the Indian market, but it would not take long for the South Korean maker to dig in their heels and dethrone the Vitara Brezza from the segment best-seller spot. Therefore, pre-empting the rivalry from Venue, Maruti Suzuki has now started offering a 5-year comprehensive warranty on the Vitara Brezza along with benefits worth Rs. 30,000. Earlier, the Indian carmaker only offered a 2 year/40,000 km warranty on Vitara Brezza as standard. The five year/1 lakh km warranty did exist for Brezza, but one had to shell out extra bucks for it. This could only mean that the Indian maker is trying to mitigate the sales dent it has had to face due to the launch of Venue in the market.
Maruti has not made any significant upgrades to the Brezza ever since it was launched in the Indian market. To top it all, Brezza still does not comes with the option of a petrol engine in the market. Not talking of the Hyundai Venue, it comes with a whole lot of new features and a very fresh design for the segment. The segment leading features on the Venue are 3 year/unlimited Kms warranty, 7 speed twin clutch automatic gearbox and air purifier function for the air conditioning. Safety features are also a aplenty on the SUV with the Venue coming with push button start, keyless entry, LED DRLs, cruise control, 6 airbags on the top-end variant, ABS, EBD, ESP, hill hold and traction control.
As far as the mechanicals of the Venue are concerned, the South Korean maker is offering a new 1 liter 3 cylinder turbo petrol engine rated to deliver 120 PS and 175 Nm, this engine has been developed by the company in-house. This new engine comes with a 7-speed twin clutch gearbox and a 6 speed manual. As far as the other engines are concerned, there are two more options with the first one being a 1.2L petrol rated for 82 PS and 114 Nm and mate to 5 speed manual gearbox. The second one is a 1.4L turbo diesel engine rated for 90 PS and 220 Nm and mated to a 6 speed manual gearbox. The SUV will be sold as a front wheel drive car and there will be no all-wheel drive on offer, even as an option.