It has been a busy Auto Expo 2020 for Maruti Suzuki India Limited. In the past three days, it has unveiled three cars that will hit the showrooms very, very soon: Brezza petrol, S-Cross petrol and the new Ignis.
As you might recall, Maruti isn’t yet ready with a BS6 compliant diesel and that has meant its diesel-only offerings such as Vitara Brezza and S-Cross had to switch to petrol.
Vitara Brezza Petrol
Out of the three, Brezza is the most significant one as it is the segment leader and clocks an impressive ~10,000 units a month in sales. Till now, it was available only with the Fiat-sourced 1.3 litre diesel powerplant. The Brezza will now be powered by a 1.5 litre naturally aspirated petrol motor that has been doing the duty on cars like Ertiga and Ciaz. This petrol engine produces 104 Bhp in power and 138 Nm of torque. While the numbers may not sound big, they are good enough to make Brezza a peppy city drive. This motor will get two gearbox options: a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed torque converter automatic. Maruti’s mild hybrid tech too would find a place here helping boost the mileage.
It remains to be seen if Maruti also offers a CNG-Petrol dual fuel variant of the SUV. Claimed mileage for the petrol-manual trim is 17.03 Kmpl while the petrol-automatic hybrid manages an impressive 18.,6 Kmpl, both figures ARAI certified.
While prices aren’t out yet, Maruti might throw a surprise by offering the petrol Brezza at prices lower than the outgoing diesel Brezza which will make it a very attractive buy.Exterior changes on the 2020 Maruti Brezza Facelift include a dollop of chrome on the new front grille, revised headlamps that gets LED DRLs, a refreshed design for the alloy wheels, reprofiled front and rear bumpers and a dual tone paint scheme. The facelifted compact SUV will go on sale shortly, and bookings will soon open at all Maruti Suzuki ARENA dealerships across India. The SmartPlay touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, gets a revamp and is offered on the top-end trims.
S-Cross Petrol
The big change here to is under the bonnet. So, the S-Cross will get the same 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder K-Series petrol engine as the Brezza. It produces 104 Bhp of power and 138 Nm in torque.
The engine is backed by Suzuki hybrid Vehicle system (SHVS) which is a mild hybrid helping cut emissions and improve fuel efficiency. The gearbox combinations will be similar too. There will be 5-speed manual and a 4-speed torque converter automatic. The same engine-gearbox combo is already offered in Ertiga, XL6 and Ciaz. So, it’s a tried and tested combination.
The one advantage of this switch to petrol will be the reduced price. The current diesel S-Cross starts at Rs. 8.8 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi—the new one should be cheaper by Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh, making it a very attractive alternative to compact SUVs and even the higher end versions of compact sedan. While it does not have the cache of a compact SUV—crossovers are yet to take off in India—S-Cross actually offer much more space, a huge boot and even better ride than many. In many ways, the experience is closer to that of a proper sedan that costs a lot more.
Ignis Facelift
Ignis gets a facelift revised styling at the front end, with a toothy grille and bumper inserts. The A-Pillar gets blacked out while the alloy wheel design is new. At the rear, new bumper inserts round off the design. Two more colour options– Lucent Orange and Turquoise Blue—are on offer. What’s more, bookings begin today.
There are no changes under the hood: Ignis will continue to be powered by a 1.2 liter-4 cylinder K-Series petrol engine with 82 Bhp of peak power and 113 Nm of peak torque. A 5-speed manual gearbox is standard while a 5 speed automated manual transmission (AMT) is offered as an option.
The car competes with the Tata Tiago, Hyundai Grand i10 and the Ford Figo in terms of pricing. Key features on offer include a SmartPlay touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, LED projector headlamps, daytime running LEDs, twin airbags, ABS, reverse parking sensors, reverse parking camera, seat belt reminders and speed alerts.
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