Each brand to take advantage of its own tech: Maruti of mild hybrids and Toyota of strong hybrids.
With the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Toyota Hyryder fully unveiled, the big question now is, what will the prices be like, and would one of the siblings be cheaper?
Toyota has already announced prices for the top four variants: the strong hybrids are priced between Rs 15.11 lakh-18.99 lakh, while the top-spec mild hybrid AT variant is priced at Rs 17.09 lakh. The prices for the other versions are yet to be revealed. Maruti is set to announce the prices for the Grand Vitara on September 26. But we can now report that the two partners will adopt different pricing strategies for the same variants.
- Maruti to have lower starting price with Grand Vitara mild hybrid
- Toyota likely to encourage test drives of Hyryder strong hybrid
With the strong hybrid tech coming from Toyota, the Hyryder strong hybrids are set to be priced lower than their Maruti counterparts. What will also make it cheaper to acquire is the fact that the strong hybrid will be offered in the top three variants of the Hyryder, whereas Maruti will limit it to top two only. Thus, the effective starting price for the strong hybrid will be lower with the Toyota on account of the lower-spec version.
Conversely, Maruti will undercut Toyota on the mild hybrid as well as the AWD version given that this tech is from the Suzuki stable. Maruti will, thus, have the all-important lower starting price which is great for optics.Â
Hyryder, Grand Vitara strong hybrids against Korean rivalsÂ
Interestingly it’s believed that Maruti dealers will offer customers the mild hybrid and AWD as test cars, whereas Toyota will encourage test drives of the strong hybrid. However, as far as marketing goes, both partners are all set to promote the segment-unique strong hybrid technology in a bid to take on the midsize SUV segment champs – the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos.
Hybrid tech is seen as the key to the Grand Vitara and the Hyryder’s success because unlike their Korean rivals, the two Japanese SUVs do not have a diesel in their line-up. Both the Creta and Seltos, on the other hand, offer a very competent 1.5-litre diesel powertrain with a manual and an auto gearbox. The diesel versions account for around 60 percent of the Creta’s sales, but now Maruti and Toyota are banking on its strong hybrids to spoil the diesel party.
Also See:
Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara review: Creta’s most serious rival yet
