Mahindra XUV 500, Tata Hexa rival from Maruti Suzuki expected by 2020

A seven-seat D-segment SUV from Maruti is expected to be on the cards within the next few years. This is a nut that the Japanese automaker has been having a hard time cracking, but this time around things are expected to be different.

Currently, they have the S-Cross crossover in this part of the market, but are tasting major success a rung below with the Vitara Brezza compact SUV. They have been able to shift over 9000 units consistently making it one of their biggest sellers in the higher segments. However, they have no SUV presence below the Brezza or as mentioned earlier, above the S-Cross. It is here that Tata and Mahindra have been able to corner a large share of the market with the Hexa and XUV500 respectively.

Maruti Suzuki did try to break into this part of the market and twice to be precise. First with the Grand Vitara and then with the Kizashi sedan, both of which failed to make any heads turn. But this time around, their approach is expected to be with their Nexa premium brand which has already done the job of expanding the image of Maruti
Suzuki and moving it beyond its budget manufacturer origins.

On the other hand, there will also be an SUV-styled vehicle, that will come in below the Brezza and is expected to be a cross version of the next generation Alto hatchback. It will take on the likes of the Renault Kwid and Datsun Redigo in the A-segment of the Indian car market. This will be a volumes heavy model and probably sell alongside the Alto range.