Expect the Invicto to be slightly pricier than the Innova Hycross as Maruti will have to pay royalty to Toyota.
Maruti Suzuki will commence bookings for its upcoming Invicto MPV from June 19, the carmaker has confirmed. The Maruti Invicto will be a badge-engineered sibling of the Toyota Innova Hycross, and will be the carmaker’s first model that will be priced above Rs 20 lakh in our market. This will also be Maruti’s third MPV following the Ertiga and XL6.
- Maruti Invicto price announcement is slated for July
- Will be first Maruti model to be priced above Rs 20 lakh
- Powertrain options expected to remain unchanged from Hycross
Maruti Invicto to be priced at a premium over Hycross
Just as Toyota produces the Grand Vitara and supplies it to Maruti, the new Invicto MPV will also be manufactured by Toyota at its Bidadi plant and supplied to Maruti. The Invicto will be based on Toyota’s TNGA GA-C platform and will also use its 2.0-litre petrol and strong-hybrid powertrains, which means Maruti will have to pay a certain amount in royalty to Toyota. Maruti is also expected to retain both seven- and eight-seater configurations for the Invicto.
The Invicto will, thus, be priced at a slight premium over an equivalent variant of the Innova Hycross. For refence, the petrol variants of the Innova Hycross are priced between Rs 18.55 lakh – Rs 19.45 lakh, while the strong hybrid variants are priced between Rs 25.03 lakh – Rs 29.99 lakh.
It will, however, be interesting to see how Toyota shuffles between production of the Innova Hycross and the Invicto as both models will be produced on the same assembly line. The Hycross already has a waiting period extending up to two years in some places for the strong-hybrid variants, and the Invicto is only going to add to that. Toyota, however, did commence a third shift recently at its factory to ease out the waiting periods.
Maruti Invicto powertrains options
Maruti has confirmed that the Invicto will be powered by the 183hp, 2.0-litre strong-hybrid powertrain mated to the e-CVT transmission that’s also offered on the Hycross. The 173hp, 2.0-litre naturally aspirated is also expected to be offered on entry-level trims, mated to a CVT transmission. Importantly, this will be the first Maruti that’ll solely be offered with automatic gearboxes, and will have no manual option.
Maruti Invicto positioning
The company could be looking to enhance its brand image with what will be its first Rs 20 lakh-plus model in our market. Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director at Maruti Suzuki, believes that the lines between the SUV and MPV categories are increasingly blurring in the Rs 20 lakh-plus segment, and what customers are essentially looking for is a premium three-row experience.
Speaking to the media, Srivastava said, “Traditionally, so far, we have been looking distinctly at an MPV buyer and an SUV buyer. However, this segment, the more we researched into it, we found that there was a segment for a premium, three row vehicle buyer, and it seems to be having very strong cross consideration. In that regard, it appears to be a single segment with similar requirements, similar the motives to buy, and similar income category.”