The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara has broken cover in India today and we already know that it's a sibling to the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder and will be assembled alongside the Hyryder at Toyota's Bidadi plant in Karnataka. Both SUVs are expected to hit the road this festive season and will enter the hotly contested compact SUV space in our market. And we'll definitely bring you a full-fledged comparison review of these compact SUVs once the Japanese newbies go on sale. As of now, we compare the specifications of these compact SUVs against the rivals in a bid to give you an idea of how different these models look as far as figures are concerned, and also in comparison to the rivals. We have compared only petrol variants of all these SUVs, since the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is a petrol only model.
Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Unveiled; India's Most Fuel Efficient SUV
The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder are the longest SUVs of the lot followed by the MG Astor and then the Korean duo, the Creat and Seltos. The Volkswagen Taigun and the Skoda Kushaq are the shortest in terms of length in the compact SUV space. That said, both the Taigun and the Skoda have the longest footprint (wheelbase) in this comparison followed by the Koreans- Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos while the Japanese newbies- Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder are not much behind at 2600 mm. The MG Astor has the shortest wheelbase in this comparison. But then, the MG Astor is the tallest and widest of all here followed by the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Kia Seltos, while the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder and Hyundai Creta stand third. The Skoda and the Volkswagen again are the shortest and narrowest in this comparison.
Now when it comes to performance, the 1.5-litre intelligent Electric Hybrid motor (Strong hybrid) on the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser is the modest of all in this comparison. The Volkswagen Taigun and Skoda Kushaq have the most powerful turbo petrol engines, followed by the Koreans- Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. The MG Astor Turbo Petrol too belts out higher power figures compared to the Grand Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser, but is offered with a torque converter automatic transmission while the Kia and Hyundai, as well as the Skoda and VW siblings offer their turbo petrol engines with dual-clutch automatic transmission. But the 1.5-litre strong hybrid powertrain in the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser delivers the best-in-class fuel economy with a claim of 27.97 kmpl, and Maruti Suzuki claims that the Grand Vitara will be the most fuel efficient SUV on sale in India.
The 1.5-litre K-series mild-hybrid engine in the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder again is the most humble engine of the lot. The smaller 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo petrol motor in the Volkswagen Taigun and Skoda Kushaq is the most powerful engine of the lot followed by the 1.5-litre, four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol motor in the Koreans- Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. The MG Astor again belts out better power output than the Grand Vitara and Urban Cruiser Hyryder.