King Of The Ring

Can the Vitara Brezza keep up its undefeated streak in the sub-four metre SUV segment, or do we have a new champion in the Tata Nexon?

- Rahul Richard

The sub-four metre SUV segment has become one of the most competitive classes of vehicles in India today. And since its launch, Maruti Suzuki’s Vitara Brezza has always been at the tip of everybody’s tongue when the topic of buying a sub-four metre SUV comes up. And with good reason! It’s affordable-ish, practical, quite premium and an absolute hoot to drive. It’s been winning all our comparisons and even managed to win Bert over when it was his long term car. It dethroned the Ford EcoSport as the king of the segment, and has successfully fended off potential threats from cars like the Honda WR-V and the Mahindra TUV300. However, there’s a new threat now, a bright blue one — the Tata Nexon. It’s got quite a few strong assets in hand, and we find out if the Brezza’s winning streak can finally be broken.

DESIGN AND SPACE 

The Nexon’s design is sure to bring about mixed opinions. Bert, for instance, finds that the numerous design elements are a bit of an overkill. Rishabh likes how fresh it looks, and likes “the drama.” I, on the other hand, am stuck somewhere in the middle. I really love how the Nexon still looks very concept-car like on the whole. The front, with its big friendly grin, made up of the headlights and grille, looks a lot nicer in the flesh especially with those neat DRLs. The side profile is quite clever because the upward sloping shoulder line along with the roofline’s design, create the illusion of a sharply sloping roof. That said, from the B-pillar onwards to the rear, the Nexon loses its SUV look, and appears to be more like a hatchback. The rear-end is the funkiest angle of the car, with those god knows-what shape taillights and the design elements connecting them.