Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Hybrid Will Alert Pedestrians, But There’s A Catch!

• Grand Vitara strong hybrid gets new ‘Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System’ feature. 
• It emits a low-level sound that can be heard up to five feet away to alert pedestrians.
• This new feature comes at a premium of up to Rs 4,000.

Maruti Suzuki has introduced a new safety feature in the strong-hybrid variants of the Grand Vitara. Called the  ‘Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System’, it emits a low alert sound that can be heard up to five feet away, to denote that the vehicle is approaching them. This new feature comes at a small premium on the Grand Vitara’s hybrid variants, prices for which have been increased by up to Rs 4,000. 

A hybrid powertrain switches between petrol and electric power depending on the battery’s charge levels. And some hybrids offer a pure EV mode, provided there’s sufficient juice in the battery. We all know how quiet the vehicle can be when it’s driven on electric power, which may be detrimental to  pedestrians, who may not even know that the vehicle is approaching! 

As a result, Maruti Suzuki has introduced this small but important safety feature, which alerts people when the car is approaching them. It’s invaluable in terms of pedestrian safety and found in a lot of high-end EVs such as the Kia EV6. It still remains to be seen if existing owners will get this small safety feature.

To know our impressions on the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, head to our detailed first drive review. Prices for the Grand Vitara range from Rs 10.7 lakh to Rs 19.79 lakh (ex-showroom), and it locks horns with the Hyundai Creta, Volkswagen Taigun, Toyota Hyryder, Skoda Kushaq. In the future, it’ll also go up against the upcoming Honda Elevate, 2023 Kia Seltos and Citroen C3 Aircross.