Ford Slashes Ecosport's price. Which is more compelling, Ford's Ecosport or Maruti's Vitara Brezza?

Maruti has launched its new sub-compact SUV Vitara Brezza in the market. This is one of the much anticipated vehicles of 2016 Delhi Auto Expo. At a price range between ₹6.99 lakh and ₹9.54 lakh (Ex showroom Delhi) they have got the pricing right. And going by the sales of 5,600 booking in 48 hours we can safely say they have a winner in their hand.

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Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza

Ford Ecosport's price slashed

Felling the heat of the launch of Vitara and its aggressive pricing, Ford immediately slashed the price of Ecosport by ₹56,000 to ₹1.12 lakh. Now the Ecosport cost starts from ₹6.68 lakh to ₹9.45 lakh for petrol variants and ₹7.28 lakh to ₹9.75 lakh for diesel variants (All Ex showroom Delhi). This is the first price cut since its launch. After the price cut too, the Ecosport costs about ₹30,000 higher than Brezza. As Ecosport has been around for 2 years and has proved its worth, it would be interesting to compare with the newly launched Brezza which comes with lot more value for money, trusted brand value, etc.

Ford Ecosport

Performance

As Vitara Brezza comes with only one diesel engine, for this comparison we would only focus on diesel variants. Ford has recently revised its diesel engine by increasing its power by 10 bhp. Now the Ecosport uses the 1.5-ltr engine which produces about 99 bhp with 205Nm of torque. Where as Brezza uses the familiar  1.3-ltr engine which produces about 89 bhp with 200Nm of torque. As the kerb weights are different, for better comparison we would take the power-to-weight-ratio(PWR). Ecosport weighs about 1.248 kgs leading to a PWR of 79 bhp, while Brezza weighs about 1,170 kgs leading to a PWR of 76 bhp.

Maruti's familiar 1.3-ltr multijet diesel engine

Variants

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (LDi, LDi (o)) VS Ford Ecosport Ambiente

There is not much offered in the base variants. But both get central locking, front power windows but lack rare power windows, music system with 4 speakers, one power outlet. With Maruti you get little more with rare passenger head rest, driver side airbag. If you can increase your budget by ₹ 13,000 then you get ABS-EBD and airbags for both driver and front passenger. Ford, on the other hand, offers driver side armrest and tilt and telescopic adjustment for steering. The Maruti Vitara Brezza LDi cost about ₹ 6.99 lakh* and for LDi (o) starts at ₹ 7.12 lakh*. Where as Ford's Ecosport is ₹ 30,000 more than Brezza. It costs about ₹ 7.29 lakh*.

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (VDi, VDi (o)) VS Ford Ecosport Trend

Maruti Vitara Brezza offers rear parking sensors, all power windows, one-touch down for driver, steering mounted control for the music system, LED tail lamps. Where as Ecosport only offers power windows, turn indicators on ORVMs, steering mounted control for the music system and remote key boot opening and ABS-EBD. With another ₹ 13,000 more Maruti offers all the safety kit like dual airbags, ABS-EBD. Ecosport Trend is about ₹ 25,000 more costlier than the higher VDi (o) variant. Brezza costs about ₹ 7.62 lakh* for the VDi variant and ₹ 7.75 lakh* for the VDi (o) variant. Where as Ecosport costs about ₹ 8 lakh* for the Trend variant.

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (ZDi) VS Ford Ecosport Trend+

For both the cars get fog lamps, automatic climate control and all the safety kit like dual airbags, ABS-EBD.In the ZDi variant you get projector headlamps, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear lever, two power outlets and rear passenger armrest as extra.  For these variants the prices of Vitara Brezza and Ecosport are very much similar. Ecosport costs about ₹ 8.48 lakh* where as Brezza costs about ₹ 8.55 lakh*. 

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (ZDi+) VS Ford Ecosport Titanium

Here the Ecosport is more aggressively priced. It actually cost nearly ₹ 38,000 lesser than the Vitara Brezza. Ford offers SYNC system with voice commands with a small screen. Both the cars are equipped with start/stop button, cooled glove box. Vitara Brezza offers more with its touch screen infotainment display. It includes reverse camera,  GPS navigation, voice command. This is the only infotainment display which doubles up as Apple's car play system.  This means if you have an iPhone, when you connect it, the display converts to Apple's car play system. Using this we can use Apple's apps like maps, music, send messages, etc. It also gets cruise control, mood coloured lighting for the dials. Ecosport costs about ₹ 9.16 lakh* where as Brezza costs about ₹ 9.54 lakh*. 

Ford Ecosport Titanium Dash

Maruti Vitara Brezza Dash

Ford Ecosport Titanium+

There is no variant from Vitara Brezza which can actually compete with this variant. Ford offers additional safety features with 6 airbags which only costs about ₹ 21,000 more than Vitara Brezza. Addition to that it also offer leather seats, automatic head lamps and DRLs. It costs about ₹ 9.75 lakh*

Opinion

For cost focused customers, the base variants of Vitara Brezza offer more for the money. They have a decent safety kit offered across all the variants which Ecosport lack. Also the trusted brand value from Maruti and its huge service centres and spare part availability could also be a plus to Vitara Brezza. The top of the line variants from Ford offer a good value for the money and if you are after safety for all the members of the family then look no further and select this variant. Non of the cars in this price tag offers such safety. 

* All are Ex showroom Delhi

Image Source: Some of the images are taken from Team BHP, PerformanceDrive, etc.