Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: Gone But Not Forgotten

With the e Vitara round the corner, now’s a good time to look back at the origins of the nameplate that stretches back to 1988, to the tiny (2 doors, just 3.5 metres long) ladder-frame 4x4 that was first called Escudo in the Japanese market. Designed as a more upmarket replacement to the Jimny, it found instant success in Europe, Australia, USA (where it was called Sidekick), and even China where it was smuggled in to bypass import taxes. India got introduced to the nameplate when the second-generation arrived in 2003, now sporting the Grand prefix (to denote 5 doors) and XL-7 suffix (it was the most compact 7-seater of its time).

Being a CBU, the Grand Vitara XL-7 sported an equally grand ₹18- 20 lakh price tag which, to put things into perspective, was nearly thrice as much as their most expensive car until then, the Baleno sedan (which was in any case struggling against the City). But it also got – even to this day! – Maruti’s largest and most powerful engine, the 2.7-litre V6 pushing out 185bhp. The third generation arrived in 2007 and swapped out the ladder-frame for a monocoque and the V6 for first a 2-litre and then, two years later, a 2.4-litre four-pot. The latter pushed power up from a decidedly weedy 119bhp to a more acceptable 163bhp but was still no patch on the fantastic 2.4-litre i-VTEC in the CR-V which was now into its second generation and doing wonders for the desirability of the Honda badge in India.

Unlike the CR-V, the Grand Vitara retained full-time 4x4 along with a low-ratio gearbox (the CR-V was natively front-wheel with optional AWD) and that brought it to the attention of a very, very, very niche segment. Traditional Maruti Suzuki customers could never digest the ₹17-18 lakh price, and in the days when kitna-deti-hai ruled over everything else, the 8kmpl mileage delivered mass indigestion. But for Raid-de-Himalaya and Desert Storm competitors the Grand Vitara became the stuff of dreams. Long accustomed to the Gypsy, the GV was a damn sight more comfortable, faster, less noisy, less dusty, less tiresome – basically five generations ahead of what they were used to. It was also 10 times as expensive which meant only Maruti Suzuki factory drivers (and a few deep-pocketed privateers) rallied the GV – to massive success.

In fact, anybody arguing that motorsport has zero marketing benefits should look at what the Raid and ’Storm success did for the Grand Vitara, giving it visibility a million times higher than what the miniscule sales numbers should warrant. That we still remember the name is purely down to motorsport, rallying success keeping it alive until hybridisation (in 2022) and electrification (e Vitara in June of 2025) will inject desperately needed vitality in terms of sales numbers.