Maruti Grand Vitara Safety Rating – What To Expect?

In this post, we shall discuss the Maruti Grand Vitara safety rating. Grand Vitara is a mid-size SUV which rivals the giants of this category – Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos among others. This is a rapidly burgeoning segment of our market. The Grand Vitara moniker has a bit of history attached to it. Grand Vitara was the first all-wheel-drive by Maruti Suzuki in India back in 2009. It remained in product until 2015. However, the current version of the Grand Vitara was launched in 2022. Maruti wanted to leverage the value associated with the Grand Vitara moniker. Hence, it decided to name the mid-size SUV that. For now, let us take a look at the details to guess the kind of performance expected from the SUV at the Bharat NCAP.

Maruti Grand Vitara Safety Rating

Now we know that the Maruti Grand Vitara has not been crash-tested by Global NCAP. Hence, there is no official safety rating available. However, we are also aware of the fact that the SUV is based on the Global C Platform, which also underpins the Brezza compact SUV. Incidentally, the Brezza has achieved a rather impressive 4-star safety rating at the Global NCAP back in. Even though the current version of the Brezza is yet to undergo a crash test, we can expect a similar performance since there are only aesthetic differences between the two. Still, the Grand Vitara is a distinctive mid-size SUV. But the same platform could play a pivotal role in deciding the final safety rating of the Grand Vitara. For the sake of this post, we can glance at the safety test results of the Brezza. This will give us an understanding of the kind of results we can expect from the Grand Vitara.

Adult Occupant Protection (AOP)

In the AOP category, the Brezza secured a healthy 12.51 points out of 17. During the crash test, the protection to the driver and passenger’s head and neck was good. Additionally, the driver’s chest showed marginal protection but the passenger’s neck demonstrated good protection. In terms of the driver and passenger’s knees, both these showed marginal protection. This is because they could impact dangerous structures behind the dashboard supported by the Tranfascia tube. Moreover, the bodyshell was rated as stable and it was capable of withstanding further loadings. This SUV had 2 airbags and ABS as standard. All this culminated in a decent 4-star safety rating. Thanks to the platform-sharing, the Grand Vitara should perform similarly in a crash test. In fact, with a more comprehensive safety suite on offer, the bigger SUV should even outdo the smaller sibling at the crash tests.

Maruti Grand Vitara Safety Rating – Child Occupant Protection (COP)

Similarly, in the COP section, the compact SUV secured just 17.93 points out of 49. In this crash test, dummies of 18-month-old and 3-year-old were positioned on the special seat using ISOFIX child seat mounts. For the 3-year-old, the seat was installed facing forward using the top tether to prevent excessive forward movement during the impact. As a result, good protection for the head and marginal protection for the chest was observed.

For the 18-month-old child, the CRS was installed with ISOFIX and top tether forward facing which explains the loss of head points. This resulted in poor protection for the head and limited protection for the chest. The recommended CRSs did not show incompatibility. The vehicle offers standard ISOFIX and top tether anchorages in the 2 outboard rear seats and does not offer 3-point belts in all seating positions. As a result of all these factors, a disappointing safety rating was achieved.

Maruti Grand Vitara Safety Features

The Maruti Grand Vitara offers some of the latest safety amenities to customers. That is necessary to rival the competitors. In this day and age, customers want their vehicles to offer the latest equipment. In fact, ADAS is all the rage at the moment. This is particularly true for the SUVs in this segment. While the Grand Vitara doesn’t get it, it still offers the latest safety tech. The top highlights of the safety features list include:

• 6 Airbags
• Electronic Stability Program
• ABS with EBD and Brake Assist
• Hill Hold Assist
• 3-Point ELR Seat Belts for all passengers
• All Four Disc Brakes
• Hill Descent Control
• Tyre Pressure Monitoring System
• Head-Up Display
• 360-Degree Camera
• ISOFIX Child Seat Anchorages
• Engine Immobilizer
• Front Seatbelt Pre-Tensioner with Force Limiters

Specs

Maruti Grand Vitara comes with a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder mild hybrid and strong hybrid engine with an AC synchronous motor and lithium-ion battery pack. The former produces a decent 103 hp and 136 Nm, while the latter generates a healthy 116 hp and 141 Nm of peak power and torque. There are options of choosing between either a 5-speed manual transmission (MT), CVT, or a 6-speed automatic transmission (AT). The biggest talking point has to be the incredible mileage of 27.97 km/l with the strong hybrid. There is also the option of a CNG mill which churns out a usable 87 hp and 121 Nm of peak power and torque. The prices range from Rs 10.99 lakh to Rs 20.09 lakh, ex-showroom.

Our View

Maruti Suzuki, unfortunately, has a bad image when it comes to NCAP ratings of its cars. In fact, the Brezza and the Ciaz have been the only ones with decent performance in the G-NCAP and A-NCAP crash tests. Therefore, I feel there is a very high chance that the Grand Vitara will also bring home a decent score. Not to mention, the higher number of safety features will contribute immensely to that score. As modern customers become more concerned about the safety ratings of the cars prior to making a decision of which vehicle to buy, Maruti Suzuki will need to focus more on safety. Let us keep an eye out for the exact details of the crash test once the Grand Vitara participates in the Bharat NCAP.

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