Maruti Suzuki will launch the Grand Vitara compact SUV on the 26th of September – the same day that the auspicious Navratri festive season commences. Price announcement for the various variants of the SUV will happen on launch day. The Grand Vitara will be retailed from Maruti Suzuki’s NEXA chain of dealerships across India, and pre-bookings for the same have been on for the past few weeks. Maruti Suzuki has logged over 55,000 bookings for the Grand Vitara, and waiting periods for some variants are said to stretch to over 5 months. The compact SUV will take on the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Nissan Kicks, Volkswagen Taigun and the Skoda Kushaq.

Don’t miss CarToq’s video review of the Grand Vitara, which goes on sale from 26th of September 2022

The Grand Vitara shares its mechanicals and features with the Toyota Hyryder Urban Cruiser. In fact, both SUVs are badge engineered versions of each other. Toyota will produce both SUVs at its factory in Bidadi, near Bengaluru. However, both SUVs will have be sold and serviced through separate networks. Maruti Suzuki NEXA will handle the Grand Vitara while Toyota’s nationwide sales and service network will handle the Hyryder. While Toyota launched only a few variants of the Hyryder earlier this month and has held back other variants for later, Maruti Suzuki is expected to go the whole hog and launch all variants of the Grand Vitara. This means that the Grand Vitara could offer buyers much more choice.

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Talking of trims, the Grand Vitara will be sold with two powertrains: a mild hybrid and a strong hybrid. The all wheel drive option will be reserved for the mild hybrid-manual transmission variants while the rest of the variants will be front wheel driven. The mild hybrid powertrain will consist of a 1.5 liter-4 cylinder K15C petrol engine (102 Bhp-137 Nm) paired to a SHVS (Suzuki Hybrid Vehicle System) mild hybrid unit that assists the petrol engine during hard acceleration. The mild hybrid will also offer brake energy regeneration and an idle-stop system. As for the transmissions available with the mild hybrid powertrain, 5 speed manual and 6 speed torque converter automatics will be offered.

The strong hybrid powertrain of the Grand Vitara will offer a 1.5 liter-4 cylinder petrol engine (91 Bhp-122 Nm) running on the Atkinson’s cycle. This engine will be paired with an electric motor that makes 78 Bhp-141 Nm, to make a combined output of 114 Bhp. The strong hybrid powertrain will offer an all-electric mode, which means that the Grand Vitara can be driven solely on battery power for about 25 kilometers. All variants of the Strong Hybrid Grand Vitara will be front wheel driven, and will get a CVT automatic gearbox as standard. The diesel-beating 28 Kmpl fuel efficiency will be the strong hybrid’s biggest selling points, and this is also a big reason why a diesel engine won’t be offered on neither the Grand Vitara nor the Toyota Hyryder.

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