The new Honda Mobilio Vs the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga MPV

The Indian Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) segment is very lucrative with many great offering and many more upcoming models in the pipeline. While the older rulers still enjoy their position and high sales in the domestic car market, the upcoming models has great advantage of being fresh and feature rich. Since its market launch in the Indian MPV segment in the year 2012, the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga has been the leader of the compact MPV market. The soon to launch Honda Mobilio MPV is expected to over shine the Ertiga and beat its sales rates after its market launch. Here’s a brief look at how the Ertiga and the Mobilio are going to be the greatest rivals in the MPV market of India.

Interior space, comfort and drivability

Both the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and the Honda Mobilio are based on a monocoque chassis. The Ertiga is the actual sub-4 meter compact MPV among the two and thus offers ample amount of interior space but lesser than that of the larger Honda Mobilio. The Ertiga is 4265mm long, 1695mm wide and 1685mm high with a wheelbase of 2740mm and ground clearance of 185mm. Though the Maruti Ertiga’s cabin is quite roomy and comfortable, its third row is quite cramped up. However, it is also a lighter car than the Mobilio, and its compact design makes it feel easy to drive around, especially in traffic stricken busy roads.

Honda on the other hand, is the master of the art of space utilization and smart seating. The Mobilio will certainly take advantage of this and offer better space, comfort and flexible seats as compared to the smaller Ertiga. The Mobilio is 4386mm long, 1683mm wide and 1603mm high. Interestingly despite being 80mm shorter than the Maruti Ertiga, the Mobilio offers more than enough head space. The Mobilio has a 2652mm wheelbase and the best ground clearance of 189mm that should be offering great drive experience even on bumpy roads.

Powertrains

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga has the smallest diesel engine in the segment, but it very efficient. The Ertiga’s accomplished 1.3 liter Fiat sourced DDiS diesel engine that offers 90PS of peak power and 200Nm of peak torque, offering of 20.77kmpl of mileage. The Honda Mobilio on the other hand uses the star performer 1.5 liter i-DTEC diesel delivering 100PS of power and 200Nm of torque. The engine offers the outstanding 24.2kmpl mileage and is more responsive than that of Ertiga’s, but it is nosier than Ertiga.

Price and Conclusion

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga surely wins in the price war with a very aggressive pricing strategy. It starts at Rs. 5.95 and extends up to Rs. 8.32 lakh for the high-end variant. The Ertiga thus, is a most affordable, efficient and comfortable MPV with the brand power of India’s largest car manufacturer.

Honda is respected for its great style and comfort aspects. The Mobilio MPV with all its superior qualities, enhanced space, superb mileage and great looks is thus a sure shot success and is expected to be priced at Rs 6.8 lakh onwards.