Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara

Vivek Venugopal is one of India's top automotive writers with over a decade's experience in road-testing and reviewing cars. He is currently the Editor of Quarter Mile magazine and a columnist in several leading magazines and newspapers. He is also a highly sought after consulting engineer and market analyst for many automobile manufacturers.

- Vivek Venugopal

The Maruti-Toyota collaboration in India has been going strong with the Brezza-Urban Cruiser and BalenoGlanza twins, but now it's got even stronger with Toyota contributing more into the mix. For one, the new Maruti Grand Vitara and its Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder, get Toyota's highly efficient 1.5 litre hybrid petrol engine. Secondly, unlike the Glanza and Urban Cruiser which were built by Maruti and then supplied to Toyota, this time, it's Toyota building them at their Bidadi plant near Bangalore.

We drove the Grand Vitara which will be the volume seller of the two. At 4345mm long, this is the longest SUV in its segment. Based on the Suzuki Global C platform which underpins the international Vitara and the S Cross, this one will be sold in many countries from now on. The front end has an imposing and large grille with headlamps on either side and LED DRLs above them. The front overhang is a bit too much and the arches have been squared off to give it a more rugged feel. The wheels are 17 inches, but they look a size smaller. The rear has a long, smoked-effect tail lamp stretched across. Interestingly the hybrid variant has all the chrome bits of the standard car in a smoked dull chrome finish.