Maruti is expected to launch the new-gen Brezza by mid-2022 with significant cosmetic and feature upgrades
Maruti Suzuki cars aren’t particularly known for their safety and build quality. The Indo-Japanese carmaker has often been subjected to online criticism and trolling regarding its sub-standard safety technology. The only car in its portfolio to have received a respectable safety score in Global NCAP crash tests is Vitara Brezza.
The subcompact SUV was crash tested by Global NCAP back in 2018 where it was able to achieve a 4-star adult safety rating and a 2-star rating for child occupant protection. Recently, Toyota Urban Cruiser, Brezza’s rebadged twin, was also crash-tested by Global NCAP.
The crossover received a 4-star adult safety rating and a 3-star rating for child protection with a better overall score than Brezza. This was possible thanks to a rear-facing child seat used this time around. More importantly, GNCAP has rated body shells of both Brezza and Urban Cruiser as stable and that they are capable of withstanding further loads.
Maruti Brezza 5 Star Safety Possible
Global NCAP secretary-general, Alejandro Furas, revealed that both Maruti Brezza and Toyota Urban Cruiser are not far away from a 5-star safety rating. Apparently, there’s not much that is needed to do for the manufacturer to achieve this. If that happens, Maruti Brezza will match the safety rating of Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300 in the segment.
With Brezza on the verge of receiving a substantial upgrade, will Maruti make an effort to achieve a well-earned 5-star safety rating considering its cost-effective business nature? There is every possibility the Indo-Japanese carmaker will aim for a 5-star this time around. It is evident with the 4-star rating attained by Urban Cruiser that Maruti hasn’t cut corners on steel quality, materials, number of welds, or even on other sub-structures related to safety.
It is common for manufacturers to make some alterations to the structure of a car over a period of time to make it more economical. Furas admitted this to be the reason why GNCAP decided to test Urban Cruiser despite having already tested Brezza. While the testing body was pleasantly surprised to see Urban Cruiser obtain better results than its twin sibling, Furas was disappointed on not seeing a centre, three-point seat belt at rear.
More airbags in new Brezza
Another reason why Brezza could achieve a 5-star safety rating is the addition of more airbags. Currently, Brezza is offered dual front airbags and the upcoming iteration of the subcompact SUV is likely to receive up to six airbags with four airbags to be standard across the range. Maruti could use this generation upgrade as an opportunity to engineer a few technical changes.
Apart from safety, the new-gen Brezza will add more creature comforts to the list like an electric sunroof, paddle shifters, a 360-degree camera, a touchscreen infotainment display with SmartPlay Pro+ software, in-car connect and much more. It will be powered by a new 1.5-litre Dualjet K15C engine with 103 bhp and 137 Nm of torque.
