No Breeze in the Brezza!

Only Maruti Suzuki could do this. It sells expensive vehicles through its regular dealerships, while lower priced cars are retailed at NEXA, its new premium outlets targeting high-end customers.

We are talking about the Vitara Brezza, the much touted compact SUV, which may fetch Maruti some impressive volumes even in a sluggish market, but may not be exactly aspirational like the Baleno that stands as the best 'value proposition' in the market today.

While the jury on Brezza is still out, Baleno has been the biggest success for Maruti Suzuki after the Swift - now a decade old and still raging on. More than 100,000 Balenos have been booked across India and that, too, without any price cuts. On the other hand, the S-Cross is still struggling to find customers even after its invitation price was officially reduced by the company in November.

The bigger question for a regular Indian customer is whether to buy the new Brezza or settle for Baleno, the better value for money. Baleno is available in NEXA, which has helped Maruti make a mark in the premium segment. So a customer gets premium service and also the product at a lower price tag.

Brezza sells through the regular dealerships. Some would say Brezza is an SUV. But Baleno is no less than a sporty hatchback with all ingredients for a soft offroader. The stance of the car and the tyres, the most important determinants for quality driving (for Indian roads, you have to believe me), are almost the same for both models. Both have 16-inch tyres and the road clearance of 170 mm gives enough space to Baleno to handle bumpy Indian roads.

But here goes the verdict: the lower centre of gravity would any day give better balance and driveability to the Baleno.

Also the build quality. Brezza is largely catering to India or similar markets. Baleno, going by Suzuki's ambitious plans to make India its global manufacturing base, is the first car to be shipped to all major overseas markets, including the first to Japan, and would have multiple engine offerings soon to make it an exciting deal.

Coming back to India, the Brezza is more of a compromise SUV as it only offers larger headroom over Baleno, which incidentally has more boot space with a 355-litre capacity, despite its hatchback status.

Baleno is a super hatchback for the buck with the starting priced at Rs 6.33 lakh for the base diesel variant, and offers expensive gizmos like ABS and Airbags as standard even on the base model, which is not the same in Brezza.

For these basic safety apparatus, one needs to spend an extra lakh of rupees on the Brezza.

The hatchback has a distinct advantage with a lighter body. The Baleno Diesel weighs 960 kg, a full 210 kg lighter than the Brezza. This lighter body makes it a peppier car with a 12.5 second limit to 0-100 km run, keeping it ahead of the 13 second score of the Vitara Brezza.

On the mileage front, the Baleno scores over the Brezza. The diesel for Baleno is 25.26 km to a litre against 24.3 kmph for the SUV.

Baleno also comes with a petrol mill that allows a lower price point of Rs 5.15 lakh. The Brezza, however, has only diesel.

And last but not the least, the Baleno offers additional CVT automatic transmission that surely renders higher comfort and convenience to any potential buyer. Nothing of that sort in the Brezza yet!