Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza V Honda WR-V

Honda’s compact SUV meets the king of its segment

- Anand Mohan

YOU COULD ATTRIBUTE the evolution of the Indian automotive sector to the sub 4-metre rule, and say thank you to Tata Motors for coming up with the chopped boot formula with the Indigo CS, a segment that Maruti have now made their own with the Dzire. However major action in sub-4-meters is happening with compact SUVs and the Nexon on the previous page, while late to the game, has these two rivals to tackle if it has any hope of being a best seller. In the best-selling corner is Maruti Suzuki with its cleverly designed Vitara Brezza, an SUV that looks quite small in its entirety but its silhouette, proportions and details make it look just like an SUV should. The Brezza isn’t just a design triumph for the country’s largest carmaker but the mechanicals work well too and that combination makes it hard to beat. Honda thinks otherwise with the WRV, its compact SUV/crossover based on the Jazz. Is it better than the Brezza then? What should the Nexon be training its sights on?

Dressed to kill

Okay, that’s an overstatement, dressed to impress is more like it. Maruti picked up the trend Mini started with its white and pattern painted roofs and in my opinion that makes the Brezza stand out among its peers. The front end gets a solid slab like stance you’d expect in an SUV and the rear too stays away from the kind of delicate detailing you find in hatchbacks. ‘Everything has to look macho’ must have been the design brief. The WR-V on the other hand has to make do with tweaks to the Jazz, and so the flared and redesigned bumpers and headlamps do their best to give the WR-V a purposeful look but it doesn’t quite ace the imposing stance criterion like the Brezza. The tyres are larger 16-inch wheels compared to 15-inch wheels on the Jazz and shod with 195-section tyres but that too is smaller than the 215-section Brezza rubber. Styling is subjective though, so let’s move past it.