'V' for Victory?

We drove around Jaipur and some specially curated zones to find out whether the Maruti Suzuki Victoris, Arena’s new flagship, can be a victorious contender in the mid-size sport utility vehicle SUV) space

- Gaurav Davare

THE SUB-FOUR-METRE SUV SEGMENT MAY be the one that grabs a lot of the limelight and is a hotbed of intense competition in the Indian automotive space, but the midsize SUV space isn’t exactly far behind on intensity either. Gone are the days when a fundamentally simple SUV was premium enough. The trend nowadays for those looking at a midsize SUV is close to being a jack of all trades. Maruti Suzuki has already had the Grand Vitara as its midsize SUV player since 2022 via the carmaker’s premium Nexa brand. Now, the Maruti Suzuki Arena range has a flagship, called the Victoris. This is the second midsize SUV by the carmaker. Does the Victoris have the potential to be victorious in its segment? We got to spend some quality time with it in Jaipur while also putting it through some interesting curated tests to find that out.

Considering the Maruti Suzuki Victoris and Grand Vitara are built on the same global C-platform, it is no surprise that the overall silhouette is recognisable owing to fairly identical dimensions. But that’s where many of the exterior similarities end. The Victoris, though it looks butch, yet has a balance of the sleek and the modern. Up front, there’s a fairly upright nose and a nicely sculpted front bumper, complemented by an aggressive pair of eyes (LED projector headlamps) and LED daytime running lights (DRL) that have unique separations. The LED DRL are connected by a chrome strip that cleverly blends with the DRL, so that it can be mistaken for an illuminated band.