Maruti Vitara Brezza likely to get 1.0L Boosterjet petrol

It looks like the 1.0L Boosterjet petrol engine has been all, but officially confirmed for the Maruti Vitara Brezza compact SUV. Maruti Suzuki presented the 998cc, 3-cylinder, 12-valve turbo-charged (and intercooled) petrol engine at the 2016 Auto Expo. The engine makes 110 BHP @ 5,500 rpm and 170 Nm of torque @ 2,000 - 3,500 rpm, and will be offered with the Baleno RS that will be sold through the NEXA premium dealer network. This engine is likely to be offered with the Vitara Brezza as well.

This has been speculated earlier as well due to two main reasons:

- Maruti Suzuki has presented the engine and confirmed that the Baleno RS will receive it. The Boosterjet is being imported for re-exports to global markets (in the Baleno), which would make it simple to manage the logistics.

- Maruti's existing petrol engines won't work for the Vitara Brezza. It is based on the Suzuki global C platform that underpins the full-sized Vitara and has a kerb weight of 1,170 kg - just 10 kg less than the S-Cross. Maruti's 1.2L petrol would fit into the excise limitation, but would be far too weak for this car. The 1.4L petrol in the Ciaz and Ertiga could offer the grunt needed, but would put it beyond the benefits offered in the excise slab.

As per a report by Autocar India, the 1.0L engine will be directly imported for the Baleno RS and Vitara Brezza. Autocar's source stated that the volumes of the Vitara Brezza and Baleno RS wouldn't justify the engine's local production as the minimum production scale would have to be at least 1,00,000 units a month. This of course, raises questions about the production costs, which is a factor that complicated matters for the Maruti S-Cross 1.6 DDiS 320.

The Vitara Brezza petrol could be launched in the festive season this year. Apart from the engine offered, all eyes will be on the petrol variant's price.

The Vitara Brezza is currently only powered by the 1.3-litre (DDiS 200), 4-cylinder, Fiat-sourced diesel engine that produces 89 BHP (@ 4,000 rpm) and 200 Nm of torque (@ 1,750 rpm). The car is available with a two-wheel drive configuration only and power is transmitted to the front wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox.