The indigenously developed 1.3-litre diesel-engined Vitara Brezza compact SUV from the Maruti Suzuki stable, which was launched on March 8, is yet to reach retail outlets. But it has already drawn a barrage of customer enquiries and bookings from prospective buyers and is likely to run up a waiting of 6-8 weeks.

Deliveries are slated to commence around end-March, the company has confirmed to Autocar Professional.

At present, available only in diesel, the Vitara Brezza has notched up 2,600 bookings in one day since its launch. A visit to the Rana Motors showroom in South Delhi shows the staff to be upbeat about the customer response to the carmaker’s newest model addition even before the SUV has made its presence felt at the showroom. The Vitara Brezza is expected to reach the showroom around 24-25 March, after which deliveries are slated to commence.

In February, the carmaker’s Gurgaon and Manesar manufacturing facilities had stopped production due to the agitation in Haryana, where the two plants are located, and due to which production schedules were thrown out of gear. The company had to suspend operations at its facilities from February 20 (second half) till February 23 (second half) as supply of certain components was disrupted. Given that the two plants together produce around 5,000 vehicles a day, it is estimated that the carmaker would have lost production of around 15,500 vehicles between these days.

The Vitara Brezza is being produced at the Gurgaon plant, hence it would have also faced some delays in production.

The sub-4-metre compact SUV, which marks Maruti Suzuki’s entry into this segment, has been developed keeping the Indian customer in mind and is pitted against the likes of the Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport and the Mahindra TUV300.

Earlier at the Auto Expo 2016, RS Kalsi, executive director, sales and marketing, Maruti Suzuki India, had told Autocar Professional that the company’s marketing strategy for the Brezza is to focus on young customers as well as those who are already users of Maruti’s compact cars.

“As they are looking at the next upgrade in the form of an SUV, they fall in our target segment,” he had elaborated.