Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza likely to be launched with 1.0 Boosterjet petrol engine soon

Maruti Suzuki launched its first compact SUV for India, the Vitara Brezza in March 2016. Despite being offered only in diesel mill, the Vitara Brezza went on to become a highly successful model. The company has sold over 1.75 units of the SUV so far. However, with the arrival of new rivals, Maruti Suzuki is planning to launch petrol powered Vitara Brezza variants.

The petrol engine in question is believed to be the 1.0-litre Boosterjet turbo-petrol debuted to India with the Baleno RS, reports ET Auto. The mill in the go faster version of the Baleno has been tuned to churn out 100bhp at 5,500rpm and 150Nm of torque at 1,700 to 4,500rpm. It is expected to come in the same state of tune in the Vitara Brezza petrol.

Currently, all the Maruti Suzuki cars are equipped with either 1.2-litre engine that develops 83bhp or 1.4-litre engine that develops 91bhp. The former will be underpowered for the Vitara Brezza, while the adoption of the latter will result in loss of tax benefits offered to cars with below 1200cc engine and four-metre length. This makes 1.0-litre Boosterjet engine the ideal choice.

The Maruti Suzuki SUV recently got a new rival in Tata Nexon. Tata Motors offers its compact SUV in both diesel and petrol version at a price range that undercuts the Vitara Brezza. Tata Motors has also started testing Nexon, equipped with automated manual transmission (AMT). The Nexon is due in early 2018.

Meanwhile, another rival of the Vitara Brezza, the Ford EcoSport will get a facelift next month. The 2017 Ford EcoSport will debut with all new 1.5-litre Dragon series petrol engine and automatic transmission will be on offer.

Maruti Suzuki knows customers may opt for rivals since they provide petrol engine and automatic transmission options in its compact SUV models. Since the competition is heating up in the segment, the launch of the Vitara Brezza petrol model is expected soon.