The Indian car industry is witnessing a major growth in the compact SUV segment. These are small vehicles with SUV like appearances but with dynamics and handlings of regular cars. The first to arrive on the scene was the Renault Duster in 2012 who was then followed by Ford who, taking advantage of the small car regulations, introduced the sub four-metre EcoSport compact SUV in 2013. Mahindra got involved and launched its competitor the TUV300 last year while Maruti Suzuki has nowbrought in its own competitor- the Vitara Brezza. Showcased at the 2016 Auto Expo it has been priced at Rs 6.99 lakh and has already got a significant number of bookings. To see how these SUVs match up to each other we have pitted them in a spec comparison.
Dimensions:-The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Mahindra TUV300 are guided by the same regulations so they are the same in terms of overall size. Both measure 3.99 metres and have wheelbases of 2850mm and 2680mm respectively. The ground clearance, which gives these cars their imposing stance, too is on the same lines with the Brezza at 198mm and the TUV at 200mm. However, in terms of overall appearance, the Brezza leans towards the crossover segment while the TUV goes for the boxy old-school SUV look. By the looks of things the Brezza is aimed towards urban buyers while the TUV is meant to focus on buyers from tier-2, tier-3 cities as well as rural areas. Inside, the TUV is a seven-seater with jump seats in the third row as compared to the Brezza which can seat five in decent comfort. However, the TUV’s seven-seater capability is mostly theoretical thanks to the lack of seat belts and not much room in the third row. The TUV300 gets a beige cabin with a black dashboard while the Brezza has black for the dashboard and grey for the seats.
Equipment:-When you examine the feature lists of both the cars, you get a sense that every time one of the vehicles loses out on a feature it makes up elsewhere and co-incidentally the other car seems to be lacking that feature. Firstly on the safety front, both cars get two airbags and ABS+ EBD as standard features across all variants, however, the Vitara Brezza also gets brake assist. On the entertainment front, both cars in our comparison (Brezza ZDi and TUV300 T8) get a CD player with USB, AUX-IN, Bluetooth connectivity, steering mounted audio controls. Here the TUV holds an upper hand as its 2-DIN system also gets a display, voice recognition as well as a mobile application a.k.a Blue Sense. The Brezza however, has climate control and ambient lighting- the latter, a first in segment feature. Also if you go for the top-spec variant you can get a touchscreen infotainment system. The trading of blows continues on smaller things like the Brezza having projector head lamps but the TUV300 getting static cornering lamps. In the cabin the Brezza gets a leather wheel and gear knob while the TUV has lumbar support for both the front seats; two unlikely things to compare but connected in the overall picture to comfort levels. Finally, the crucial number- boot space! The TUV has a 384-litre boot as compared to the Brezza’s 328-litre boot but the latter in this variant gets 60:40 split folding rear seats which should see the boot space increase significantly.
Engine and gearbox:-The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza is powered by the 1.3-litre MultiJet diesel engine that produces 89bhp @ 4000rpm and 200Nm @ 1750rpm of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels via a five-speed manual. The TUV300 is powered by the 1.5-litre three-cylinder mHAWK80 engine that produces 84bhp @ 3750rpm and 230Nm @ 1500rpm. It can be had with a five-speed manual or a five-speed AMT sending power to the rear wheels. The TUV while a bit down on power, has a higher torque figure which also comes in a tad bit earlier. Also, the AMT while a bit slow makes a huge difference in traffic heavy situations.
Price:-Maruti Suzuki has given the Vitara Brezza a starting price of Rs 6.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) while the TUV300 has a starting price of Rs 7.11 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The Vitara Brezza trumps the TUV300 variant for variant in terms of price. However, when we compare the ZDi Plus and T8 AMT it is the latter that is cheaper by exactly Rs 30,000.
