On January 13th, Maruti Suzuki will launch the Ignis, the compact SUV that is destined to shakeup the entry level automotive segments in the country. Aside from being Maruti Suzuki’s bold attempt to completely shock the market into submission by offering a well stocked, immensely safe and mileage rich car at just Rs.5-7 lakhs, the Ignis will also place India’s numero uno carmaker, firmly in the driver’s seat where the compact SUV segment is concerned. An expert car comparison will find you Ignis’s top ace-in-the hole: Aside from the sporty Mahindra KUV100, the car has no direct competition to speak of.
Mahindra KUV100 vs Maruti Suzuki Ignis
The affordable compact SUV from Mahindra, KUV100, was launched in January 2016 and immediately became the go-to car for people who wanted something bigger than a entry level hatchback yet more affordable than the premium hatchbacks and sedans. This delicious sweet spot was gainfully exploited by Mahindra with the launch of a compact SUV rather than a more appealing hatchback, as the compact SUV segment in India is booming away in its own right. One stone, two birds!!
And, the competition wasn’t anywhere around for Mahindra to see. The KUV100 is one of the most intriguing of Mahindra cars. It is a glorified hatchback, just barely larger than most entry level cars and strategically styled to look like a mini-SUV (the car doesn’t have the near SUV chops of an average soft-roader, let alone a full fledged SUV). It was marketed to the youth and posed as the ideal car for the young and the restless. However, the KUV100 did set a precedence- ABS was standard across all variants.
Maruti Suzuki has the glorious habit of entering late into a automotive segment and then completely taking it over in a very short duration of time. When it comes to cars in India, Maruti Suzuki have always held sway with the average carbuyer. When a OEMs two prominent products are locked in an all-encompassing battle that leaves little room for the competition, just as in the case of Baleno vs Swift (Click to know more), the carmaker is obviously doing something right.
The Ignis is Maruti Suzuki’s proposed coup-de-grace. The car is packed with features, offers ABS, dual airbags, pedestrian safety and crash test compliance as standard safety features across all variants and is supremely affordable at Rs.5-7 lakhs. Maruti Suzuki is retaining the car’s premium feel by marketing it off its Nexa premium showrooms while leaving no stones unturned when it comes to the car’s promotion. The Ignis also features competent mileage figures and offers a bunch of segment firsts, including LED headlamps- a feature not seen in cars that are two segments above this beauty.
In short, Mahindra KUV100 have some serious competition on their hands. Post 13th January, the Ignis is bound to be a preferred automobile (irrespective of its credentials as a compact SUV) and will leak into the territories of other cars in the sub-10 lakhs category. Mahindra have to buckle up, not just for the KUV100 but also for its other properties in the aforementioned under 10-lakhs marker.