Maruti Suzuki has kept the interest in AMT gearboxes climbing, and launched the Vitara Brezza AGS in India. The sub-compact SUV from Maruti Suzuki has been fairly popular, and has been appreciated for its smart styling and compact dimensions. Now, the Brezza has been given the Auto Gear Shift (AGS) transmission, which is Maruti Suzuki's proprietary name for its AMT gearbox. Alongside, the new Vitara Brezza AGS also gets a few extra features, and prices for the AMT variants range between Rs. 8.54 lac and Rs. 10.49 lac across four trims.
The key new elements in the Vitara Brezza begin with the AGS gearbox, which gets a toggle-based manual gear change option as well. This is the same gearbox that also powers the AMT variants of the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, and in the Brezza, is only paired with the 1.3-litre diesel engine that produces 89bhp and 200Nm torque. The launch comes soon after the Tata Nexon, one of its prime competitors in the sub-compact SUV category, was also given an AMT gearbox in combination with both the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel engines. Interestingly, Tata Motors advertised features like anti-stall, crawl and kick-down as part of its AMT gearbox, which are common concerns among car buyers who opt for AMT variants.
The rivalry between the Nexon and the Brezza go even further, with the Vitara Brezza also getting a new, orange exterior shade – Autumn Orange, in response to the Etna Orange exterior shade that the Tata Nexon AMT was launched with. It also gets a contrasting roof but in white shade, with black inserts along the C-pillar. The Nexon, in contrast, received a blackened roof finish. Other design elements include chrome front grille and rear garnishes as standard across variants, glossy black alloy wheel finish and all-black interiors with light inserts to the dashboard and door panels. With the launch of the Brezza AMT, Maruti Suzuki has also made a host of safety features standard across all variants, which include rear ISOFIX mounts, high speed alert, reverse parking sensors, dual-airbags with ABS and EBD, and more.
The new Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza AGS is available across two variants and four trims – VDi at Rs. 8.54 lac, ZDi at Rs. 9.31 lac, ZDi+ at Rs. 10.27 lac and ZDi+ Dual Tone at Rs. 10.49 lac. In comparison, the Tata Nexon AMT is also available with the top variants spread across four trims, the Revotron XZA+ at Rs. 9.41 lac, Revotron XZA+ Dual Tone at Rs. 9.62 lac, Revotorq XZA+ at Rs. 10.3 lac and Revotorq XZA+ Dual Tone at Rs. 10.59 lac.