Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza emerges as the best selling compact UV in the country
The compact sub 4 meter UV segment in India is gaining in customer preference in recent times. Functionality, space, comfort and a better driving experience are reasons for this increased demand. Every leading automaker such as Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra, Tata, Hyundai and Kia have key models that cater in this segment.
Despite heavy competition in this segment, it is seen that the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza has continued its reign in this compact UV space. Launched in 2016, the Vitara Brezza hit its 1 lakh unit sales in early 2017. And now, has amassed sales to the tune of 5.5 lakh units in 4.5 years. This means, every 4 minutes, a new Brezza has been sold in India in the last 4.5 years.
But the sales of Brezza UV are on a decline. Brezza achieved sales of almost 5.2 lakhs in March 2020 (monthly sales avg of over 10,833 units). Since Jan to August, Brezza sales are at about 37k units (monthly avg of 4,714 units). Below is the timeline of Brezza’s sales milestones achieved over the years.
Decline in Brezza Sales
Majority of Brezza’s sales came when it was powered by a diesel 1.3 liter engine, that was sourced from Fiat. Thats it. That was the lone engine that was offered with Brezza. 1.3 diesel mated to manual gearbox. There were months when Brezza sales were more than 20k units in a single month.
But, Brezza is no longer offered with this engine. In fact, it is no longer offered with a diesel engine. It is now only offered with a petrol engine. Since Jan this year, petrol powered Brezza is offered with manual transmission as well as automatic gearbox. But sales are nowhere close to its former glory.
Decline in Brezza sales is also because of increased competition. When Brezza was launched, there was only the Ford EcoSport to compete with. Now, it has to rival Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Mahindra XUV300, Tata Nexon and its own rebadged version, Toyota Urban Cruiser. Despite of this, Brezza is managing to generate sales of about 8-9k units a month.
Taking into account September 2020 sales in the sub 4 meter SUV segment, the Kia Sonet ruled the charts with sales of 9,266 units followed by the Vitara Brezza with 9,153 units sold. The Hyundai Venue noted sales of 8,469 units in the past month. Tata Nexon (6,007 units) and Mahindra Bolero (5,797 units) were the top 5 sub 4 meter compact SUVs sold in September 2020.
Brezza Petrol Specs
Petrol Brezza is equipped with new 1.5 liter K Series petrol engine. It offers a high level of fuel efficiency which stands at 18.76 km/l for the automatic variant and at 17.03 km/l for the manual. It also receives a dual battery system, features such as idle start-stop, torque assist and regenerative brake energy.
The Brezza is retailed via the company’s Arena network spread over 2,600 outlets and 1,900 cities in India. It is priced between Rs 7.34 lakhs to Rs 11.40 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi) and expected to see similar sales in the months ahead.
