Rating: Neutral; Maruti Suzuki’s premium variants cater to high-mileage customers

Maruti Suzuki recently made an announcement regarding the pricing of its new flagship vehicle, the Invicto. This multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) is based on Toyota’s Innova Hycross and will be manufactured at Toyota Kirloskar’s Bidadi plant, which is also responsible for producing the Hycross. The Invicto is available in three variants: Zeta+ 7-seater, Zeta+ 8-seater, and Alpha+ 7-seater. Maruti Suzuki has chosen to introduce only the strong hybrid variants of the Invicto. In contrast, the Innova Hycross is offered in six variants, encompassing both petrol and hybrid options.

In terms of pricing, the Zeta+ variants are priced at Rs 2.5mn for the 7-seater and 8-seater variants, while the Alpha+, which is a 7-seater variant, is priced at Rs 2.8mn.

The Invicto is underpinned by a monocoque chasis that uses Toyota’s (7203 JP, Buy) TNGA-C ‘High’ platform. The interior has a boot space of 239 litres, expandable to 690 litres . It comes equipped with a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, a 360-degree camera, a powered driver’s seat and more than 50 Suzuki Connect features.

The Invicto being a strong-hybrid offers an electric-only mode, which the company claims, can do 0-100 kmph in 9.5 seconds. MSIL claims the Invicto to have a fuel efficiency of 23.24 km per litre, similar to Innova Hycross. Since the commencement of bookings on June 19, MSIL has received 6.2k bookings for the Invicto. Invicto is priced at a discount (Rs 24k-93k) to the Hycross for the relevant variant. It will mostly appeal to customers who have a very high monthly running. MSIL notes that it will only be selling the premium variants and hence, the addressable segment will be much smaller. We currently factor in 1,000-1,500 units per month for Invicto in FY24F/25F.