Fresh from winning the country’s most prestigious automotive award, the Indian Car of the Year, Maruti Suzuki’s latest SUV, the Victoris has joined our fleet of long-term test cars. What makes it interesting is the fact that the Victoris is Maruti Suzuki’s second offering in the midsize SUV segment that’s been teeming with options for a very long time now. And while many might wonder why launch a second product in the same space when Maruti Suzuki sells the Grand Vitara already, not many realise this is a very clever move by the country’s largest car maker. That’s because while the Grand Vitara (which has been doing well for Maruti Suzuki) will continue to be sold through Maruti’s more premium, Nexa showrooms, the Victoris is being offered exclusively through its Arena chain of dealerships.
This two-pronged strategy is thus allowing Maruti to attract prospective buyers walking into both dealerships, thereby helping it increase its footprint in the midsize SUV segment. More importantly, Maruti Suzuki has been keen on being seen as a leading SUV maker and the Victoris is yet another step in the direction. Having driven it a couple of months ago – and coming back impressed – I was keen on spending more time with the Victoris, and our long termer is the AllGrip version. Now, this makes things interesting for me, because I was mightily impressed by the abilities of the Victoris at the media drive where Maruti had set up a dedicated off-road course to help us assess the SUV’s abilities.
For now, the SUV is merely functioning as my daily driver though, and is being used for in-city commutes only. I’m also liking the interiors a lot, as the seats and cabin layout look very appealing and very premium, though I am concerned about the beige-hued seats turning brown. The 10.1-inch touchscreen looks crisp and bright, and I’m particularly liking the new interface it gets, which looks a lot better and more appealing than the one on older Marutis including the Grand Vitara. But while the audio quality is good courtesy the 8-speaker Infinity audio system with the Dolby Atmos 5.1 channel surround system, I wish there were more customisation options for tuning the output to my liking.
The electrically adjustable driver seat in the Victoris is a welcome addition, though I wish there was a memory function for it too – every time someone else from the team drives the Victoris, I’m left fumbling to find my sweet spot all over again! Ours is the automatic version with a 6-speed torque converter automatic, with a set of paddle shifters, though I wish there was a Sport mode for the gearbox as well, for quicker shifts. More on the powertrain in the next report!
