Spotted my first Maruti Vitara Brezza on the road !

Hi guys,

I have been writing about Vitara Brezza since its launch and wanted to see it in flesh, but till yesterday I had been unlucky in seeing one on the road.

 Yesterday evening I was on my daily walk, enjoying the cool breez,when suddenly a red car passed me by , it looked like Brezza , but I was not sure since the road was dark at that spot, and the driver drove past me at good speed.

The only impression I could make of the car in those few minutes was that it didn’t look big, in fact it just looked like any other hatchback on the road, this confused me more, was it really the much hyped compact SUV from Maruti which was such a runaway hit that 

 it had dethroned the much capable segment leader Ford EcoSport?

Well the confusion was soon to end , as just half a km ahead I saw the same car parked by the side of the road. It was again in a dark spot but now since it was still, I could see it much better. The best part was that a Ford EcoSport too was parked behind it, so I could compare the looks of them both.

The car was brand new, still had the plastic cover on the seats.Color was nice dark red…looked much dark… like wine red due to the low light. The roof was black and the combination of red roof and black roof looked really good.

I came slowly from the rear towards the front and took my time to let the design sink in, from the point of view of a prospective buyer.

The rear didn’t look distinctive , very hatch like. The boot didn’t look very big, I don’t know if it would hold enough luggage for a long holiday for a family of four.

As I came towards the side, the thing that impressed me was the high ground clearance, and large wheels, but the car didn’t look very high, the stance was not very SUV like. To tell the truth I was not very impressed and kept looking at the EcoSport standing behind Brezza just to see if it really was a better looker than the old leader.

I waited there for few minutes looking at the side profile , and thinking if it was really worth so much money when it looked just like any other hatch?

Btw …I had seen quite a few Hyundai Creta, another rival of Brezza, and it looked very good….much bigger  and SUV like. At that moment while looking at Brezza I mentally compared the image of two cars and I would have immediately paid much higher price and bought Creta.

But there has to be some design element which immediately catches eyes of the prospective buyers when they walk into the showroom, which makes them buy that particular car over others. As I moved towards the front of Brezza, I saw what had clicked for Brezza in such a big way that it had months long waiting list, it was the awsm front…the grill, the head lights, the fogs, the bonnet…all had that macho look of a big SUV…which makes you fall in love with Brezza instantly.

 It was at this moment, when I looked at EcoSport, I knew the reason why it had lost its number one position…it just looked too old when standing next to Vitara Brezza.

 And to tell the truth Brezza’s front end looked better than Creta’s, which was stylish but did not have that burly look which  is so much more more SUV like. So even with  bigger dimensions than Brezza, Creta may loose out to that muscular front end of Brezza.

 Brezza looked like a car which would be comfortable in the city, also good for occasional highway runs, but with its compact dimensions it surely didn't look like a mile muncher to me.                                                                                                                   ...Alok

Maruti Vitara Brezza is the new CSUV King !

                         Maruti Vitara Brezza the new King of compact SUV segment !

Till Maruti launched its compact SUV Vitara Brezza, Ford's Ecosport was the ruler of the compact SUV segment, infact with Ecosport Ford practically invented the compact SUV segment in India.

Before Ecosport's launch both the market leaders, Maruti and Hyundai, had no clue about the changing taste of the Indian car buyer, who wanted something more than just the simple sweet compact cars, which were good for the daily grind, but fell short on those fun weekend trips. 

Ford identified this need of Indian car buyer and made EcoSport keeping in mind the market aspirations in mind.  Ecosport was launched in India in 2013 and opened to a fantastic response, Indian car buyer loved the high stance, rugged styling, feature loaded interiors, and on top of all this the  mouth watering launch prices made EcoSport the hottest selling  car in no time.

Since than other auto manufacturers too tried to cash in the ever growing craze for compact SUVs in India by providing more rugged looking versions of their small hatches, but these makeovers didn't go too well with the car buyers and EcoSport ruled unchallenged.

Car enthusiasts waited with bated breath for the two giants Maruti and Hyundai to respond with their own versions of compact SUV's, but neither Maruti nor Hyundai throw any half baked products in the market just to occupy their place in the segment. Both companies are know for their great products which were loved by the masses, so Maruti and  Hyundai both took their time and just like Ford they too came up with brand new products Vitara Brezza and Creta.

 Hyundai Creta was the first to arrive on the scene in end of 2015, and since than has been burning the sales charts. It seems Hyundai never had any intention of competing with EcoSport, they  made Creta bigger, much more luxurious than Ford Ecosport,  and placed it at a much higher price point too. In a segment above compact SUV, Creta was pitted against the big boys - Renault Duster, Mahindra Scorpio and XUV5OO...btw none of them have the interiors, styling, features, fit and finish like Creta :D. Hyundai's strategy worked so well that  Creta managed to carve a niche for itself, and has been  been selling 7K+ units since past several months.

 Maruti launched Vitara Brezza in March 2016 and pitted it head on against the compact SUV segment leader Ecosport, by launching Brezza at prices lower than Ecosport. Ford too responded by lowering Ecosport prices substantially. But with its contemporary styling, its long feature list, with no hassel Maruti owenership experience, and with the undisputed power of brand Maruti... Brezza not just opened to a fantastic response, but within no time booking numbers kept swelling, and waiting period extended to a few months.

 The lates May auto sales numbers have come in, which show Vitatra Brezza sales at 7193

and EcoSport sales... less than half ...at 3033 (source team-bhp), and this shows that Brezza is the undisputed King of compact SUV segment in India.

                                                                                                                                                       ...Alok

Maruti Vitara Brezza Vs Ford Eco Sport comparison video.

Ford Ecosport Goes Black !

Ford India has launched Black edition of its hot selling compact SUV Ecosport.

Black is a special edition of Ecosport which gets some cosmetic changes to the exterior of the SUV, and as the name Black Edition  suggests black is the highlighting colour here.

I guess the colour black is being used to enhance the rugged and sporty look of the SUV and to make it standout in the crowd of other Ecosport.

The Black edition Ecosport gets a black front grille, 16 inch black alloy wheels, black mirror covers, black fog lamp bezels, black roof rails and roof cross bars.

The Black edition Ecosport will only be available in Trend+, Titanium and Titanium+ variants and will be priced higher than the normal variants.

So if you don't like the chrome and dazzle of the normal Ecosport then this Black edition, more macho looking car will be for you.

I guess Ford has done a good job by providing one more option to Ecosport buyers, as many young customers go for all black theme for their cars and has to go for after market accessories to get the black look, so this original  factory quality Black edition Ecosport  should find quite a few takers in the young crowd.

The growing popularity of  recently launched Maruti brezza must have got Ford worried and they had earlier reduced the prices of Ecosport to bring it at par with its direct competition Brezza. 

                                                                                                                                                         ...Alok

Brezza vs TUV300 Vs Ecosport Comparison Video.

Overdrive Magazine compares the three sub four meter compact SUV's in the Indian market, pitting the new kid Maruti Vitara Brezza against the ruling champ Ford Ecosport and the upstart  Mahindra TUV300, the only body on frame compact SUV. 

The result of the comparison was not much of a surprise as Brezza came out to be the winner because of its fresh design, roomy interiors, frugal engine makes it more complete package.

The result of this brief comparison test does echo the market sentiment where over 5600 cars were booked with in 48 hours of commencement of booking.

Segment leader Ford Ecosport stood out as better looking vehicle with more SUVish looks and  with good ride and handling. 

Out of the three TUV300 is the only sub four meter with body on frame chassis like the larger SUV's, and its rough tough look makes it stand out in the crowd of hatchbacks on steroids and psudo SUV's in the market.

                                                                                                                                                      .....Alok