Maruti Suzuki officially pulls plug on S-Cross after launch of Grand Vitara SUV
- Maruti Suzuki S-Cross was the carmaker's only offering in the mid-size SUV space until it launched the Grand Vitara earlier last month.
It is the end of the road for one of Maruti Suzuki's flagship models - the S-Cross SUV - in India. India's largest carmaker has now officially removed the S-Cross SUV from its India lineup days after it was replaced by a brand new model - the Grand Vitara. The S-Cross SUV, which was first launched in India back in 2014, has been in the markets for about eight years. It failed to garner much interest from SUV lovers compared to its rivals like the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos.
Though no official announcements have been made, sources inside Maruti Suzuki have confirmed that the S-Cross has finally reached the end of the road. The carmaker is promising quick delivery of the remaining units of the S-Cross for those who wants to buy one. Once can contact the nearest dealership since it has been withdrawn from online sales platform. After the remaining inventory is cleared, Maruti Suzuki will officially stop selling the SUV.
The S-Cross was first launched with a 1.6-litre diesel engine or DDIS 320 and a 1.3-litre diesel engine, popularly known as DDIS 200. It was much later that Maruti withdrew diesel models and replaced them with petrol-only models powered by its 1.5-litre unit with mild-hybrid powertrain.
Despite being projected as a premium model and as a crossover variant of the SX4 sedan, the S-Cross fell out of favour for customers within a few years after its launch. Its sales continued to dwindle as Creta and Seltos continued to rise as the two most popular choices in the segment. In July and August this year, Maruti Suzuki couldn't even sell a single unit of the S-Cross.
Withdrawal of S-Cross from Maruti's lineup does not come as a surprise since the carmaker now has a more capable Grand Vitara at disposal as it aims to disrupt the mid-size SUV segment with a fresh approach. It is now Maruti's bet to take on the dominance of Creta and Seltos in coming days.
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Grand Vitara, the new challenger, if offered in two engine options. One is a 1.5-litre mild-hybrid petrol engine, while the other engine option is a 1.5-litre strong hybrid unit. It is the technical cousin of the Urban Cruiser HyRyder and is the first SUV which has been developed jointly by Toyota and Suzuki for the Indian markets.