Maruti Suzuki Ertiga ZXi BS-IV - Design Review

Carmakers are showing a trend of ‘raising’ their small cars into compact crossovers – given the new-found popularity of this form factor around the world. Suzuki’s original SX4 is one such vehicle; Ford has transformed the Fiesta hatchback into the EcoSport; and Nissan has done the same to the Micra to create the Juke. However, Maruti Suzuki – the biggest small car maker in India, had a different idea with their popular Swift platform. Instead of raising the Swift vertically and giving the car a commanding driving position, they decided to stretch the Ritz along its length and add an extra row of seats. The result is a station wagon with a tall boy design and seven seats which make it appear like a MPV but handle like a car. And thus was born the Ertiga – a Life Utility Vehicle as its creator likes to call it – to us it is a compact MPV.

Since the Ertiga is yet another car that is built on the Swift platform, the Ritz and the new Dzire are its immediate siblings. The familial connection is visible when you see the front end. The headlights for example look like a stretched back version of the units you get on the Ritz. The bumpers are very similar to the ones on the Swift and the grille is inspired from the honey-comb design that you find on the new Dzire. The fog lamps again are inspired from the ones on the Swift, however they are elongated to go with the tall-boy design of the Ertiga.

The wheel arches are subtle and the wheel-wells look well fed with the 15-inch wheels – however, look at the car from the front and the wheels look too skinny for the overall proportions of the Ertiga. The length of the bonnet and the angle of the front windshield are proportionate with the Ertiga’s MPV form. The D-pillar is upright and therefore solely responsible for making the Ertiga look like a typical bread-box inspired people carrier. The rear quarter-glass is flush-mounted and will not open unlike the old-school MPVs. Thanks to the low shoulder-line though, the rear quarter-glass is fairly large and therefore won’t make your kids feel claustrophobic even on a fairly long journey – unless you decide to fill up the Ertiga with a dozen passengers like the fleet operators typically do in India. 

Move over to the back and you have a flat hatch like the Ritz. The taillights though aren’t elongated like the Suzuki hatchback. Instead, they look too similar to the taillights of the Honda Jazz – the detailing though is typical Maruti Suzuki. While their wrap around design looks good when you see the Ertiga from the rear three-quarter angle, they look too tiny when you only see the tailgate. The rear bumper will remind you of the Ritz and the Swift again with its centre mounted fog light. You also get Hyundai-esque reflective elements at the either ends of the bumper. 

The Ertiga has a typical people-carrier form however it instantly blends into the crowd with its relatively smaller dimensions and typical Maruti Suzuki design elements. The overall design therefore is understated and will go down well with the typical Indian families that the Ertiga is targeting.  

Also Read:

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga User Experience Review

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Peformance Review