Maruti Suzuki's first compact SUV Vitara Brezza cemented its lead over prime rival Ford EcoSport in April in terms of sales. India's largest car maker sold 7,832 units of the Vitara Brezza in April, while Ford India managed to sell 3,789 units of EcoSport in the same month reports Indian Autos Blog.
The difference of 4,043 units makes it clear that the Vitara Brezza will stay off the race in the coming months too. In the sub four metre compact SUV segment, Mahindra TUV300 is far behind with just 1,928 unit sales in April.
The Vitara Brezza launched on March 8 outsold Ford EcoSport in the launch month itself. The new compact SUV found 5,563 takers in March, and Ford India sold 4,456 units EcoSport. This is despite the fact that Vitara Brezza's delivery commenced only on March 23. Maruti Suzuki sells Vitara Brezza in diesel engine only. On the other hand, the EcoSport is available in one diesel and two petrol engine options.
Anticipating threat from Vitara Brezza, Ford slashed prices of EcoSport by up to Rs. 1.12 lakh on March 11. This helped the company to improve sales of EcoSport in the same month. Ford India sold 4,456 units of EcoSport in March registering highest monthly sales in the past 16 months. However, Vitara Brezza's popularity seems to have made a dent in the EcoSport's sale in April.
With increased sales of Vitara Brezza, Maruti Suzuki sold 16,044 units of utility vehicles in April registering 260.4 percent growth in sales in comparison to 4,452 units in April 2015. Priced at Rs. 6.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), Vitara Brezza is powered by 200 DDis 1248cc diesel engine that develops 88.5bhp at 4,000rpm and 200Nm of torque at 1,750rpm mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.