Vitara Brezza success: Maruti Suzuki working on bigger SUV model to rival Tata Hexa, Mahindra XUV500

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki launched the Vitara Brezza compact SUV in March 2016. After a year and a couple of months, the compact SUV has clocked a sale of over 1.1 lakh units making it another feather in Mauti Suzuki's cap. Despite being a new comer in the utility vehicle space, Vitara Brezza went on winning the prestigious Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2017 title.

Also read: Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza: 45,000 customers yet to get delivery

The overwhelming response for the Vitara Brezza now prompts Maruti Suzuki to launch bigger SUV models, reports ET Auto. The new SUV under development will be based on the Fifth Generation C Platform and is scheduled to go into production in 2020, the report adds.

It needs to be noted that, UVs are one of the fast growing segments in India. Sales of utility vehicles expanded nearly 30 per cent to 7,61,997 units in FY 2016-17. In the same period, passenger car sales grew less than 4 per cent. Maruti Suzuki currently has 38 per cent share in the entry UV space, primarily because of the steep sales on Vitara Brezza.

To maintain the market share, Maruti Suzuki will have to come with new products and purported bigger SUV is one of them. RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki previously said, "Today, we cover the compact SUVs, but we will also move to higher SUVs. It will happen in the near future." It looks like the Tata Hexa and Mahindra XUV500 rivaling Maruti Suzuki SUV is not so far.

Interestingly, the report adds that Maruti Suzuki is also studying the feasibility of a small SUV, positioned below the Vitara Brezza. "There are some opportunities developing in that kind of segments," ET Auto quoted Kenichi Ayukawa, MD of Maruti Suzuki, in response to a question on product plans. That project, though, is at a very initial stage and a decision on it is yet to be taken.