Mew Delhi: From hatchbacks to SUVs, the Indian car market has rapidly moved away from more spacious vehicles, but what remains constant are the factors that drive car sales in India.
While price is the most important aspect to consider before making a purchase decision, fuel economy is another criteria that plays an important role when buying a car.
With the onslaught of models in the segment, deciding on the right car with most of the right boxes ticked is quite confusing. To help you in your search, here is a list of the best mileage SUVs in India, take a look.
1. MARUTI GRAND VITARA/TOYOTA HYRYDER
Maruti Suzuki and Toyota JV recently launched two new SUVs – Grand Vitara and Hyryder. Both the SUVs are based on the Suzuki Global C platform and are manufactured at Toyota’s Bidadi plant in Karnataka. The new models are offered with two engine options – a 1.5L NA petrol and a 1.5L TNGA petrol with a powerful hybrid system.
The powerful hybrid version has a TNGA 3-cylinder 1.5L Atkinson cycle engine mated to a 177.6V lithium-ion battery. This engine produces 92.45 bhp, maximum usable power and torque of 115.5 bhp and 122 Nm.
This engine comes with Toyota’s e-CVT, which is also offered for the Yaris Cross global hybrid. It is claimed to offer an ARAI certified fuel economy of 27.89 kmpl, making the new Grand Vitara and Hyryder the most fuel efficient SUVs in India.
Mileage – 27.89 kmpl
2. KIA SONET
Kia Motors has entered the sub-4 meter SUV segment with the Sonet SUV, which is available in a price range of Rs 6.79 lakh to Rs 13.25 lakh. The SUV competes with Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue and Ford EcoSport and Mahindra XUV300.
It is available with 3 engines – 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol, 1.5-litre turbodiesel and 1.2-litre NA petrol. The 1.0L engine produces 118bhp and 175Nm of torque, while the 1.2L NA engine produces 83bhp and 115Nm of torque. With a manual transmission, the diesel engine produces 99 horsepower and 240 Nm of torque. The automatic diesel offers a power of 113 hp and a torque of 250 Nm.
The diesel MT’s ARAI-certified fuel economy is 24.1 kmpl, while the diesel AT is claimed to return 19 kmpl. The 1.2L petrol version delivers a certified mileage of 18.4kmpl, while the turbo petrol with MT and DCT delivers 18.2kmpl and 18.3kmpl respectively. The iMT version will also return 18.2 km/pl mileage.
Mileage figures: Petrol – 18.4 kmpl/18.2 kmpl | Diesel – 24.1 km/l
3. HONDA WR-V
Honda Cars India launched an SUV based on the Jazz hatchback in early 2017. The compact SUV named Honda WR-V is doing quite well in the competitive market.
Despite its subcompact dimensions, the WR-V offers best-in-class cabin space with a highly practical layout. It is also the only car in its segment to offer a sunroof. The most important feature that makes it one of the most desirable SUVs is its highly efficient engine setup.
The compact SUV draws power from 1.2-litre petrol and 1.5-litre i-VTEC diesel engines available with 5-speed and 6-speed manual gearboxes. The petrol unit has a power of 89 hp with a torque of 110 Nm, the oil burner develops a maximum power of 99 hp with a torque of 200 Nm.
In BSVI form, the Honda WR-V has a fuel economy of 16.5 kmpl for petrol and 23.7 kmpl for diesel. With such impressive mileage figures, the WR-V tops our list of the best mileage SUVs in India. Although the car is based on the premium Honda Jazz hatchback, it gets new features to avoid being mistaken for its twin.
Mileage data: Petrol – 16.5 kmpl | Diesel – 23.7 km/l
4. HYUNDAI VENUE
Korean automaker Hyundai launched the sub-4 meter Venue compact SUV in India in early 2019. It’s currently the best-selling SUV thanks to its modern styling and feature-packed cabin. The sub-4 meter SUV is based on an all-new platform and shares a design with Hyundai’s global and larger SUVs including the Palisade. It also gets Hyundai’s Blue Link connected car technology, which has internet connectivity and many connected car features.
The SUV is available in 3 power units – 1.2-litre 82hp petrol, 99hp 1.5-litre diesel and 118hp 1.0-litre turbo petrol. The naturally aspirated petrol model returns 17.52kmpl, while the turbocharged petrol manual and automatic return 18.2 km/l and 18.15 km/l respectively. The diesel Hyundai Venue is expected to return 23.4 kmpl.
Mileage Data: Petrol – 17.52 kmpl, 18.2 kmpl | Diesel – 23.4 km/l
5. TATA NEXON
Next on our list of the best mileage SUVs in India is the Tata Nexon compact SUV, which first broke its concept avatar at the Delhi Auto Expo 2014. The sub-4 meter SUV is also one of the most powerful SUVs in its league.
It is available with two engines – a 120hp 1.2-litre turbo-petrol and a 108hp 1.5-litre turbo-diesel. The petrol unit and the oil burner are rated at 170Nm and 260Nm respectively.
Power is sent to the front wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission or an AMT unit. The SUV is said to have an ARAI certified fuel economy of 17 kmpl for petrol and 21.5 kmpl for petrol and diesel.
The subcompact SUV comes with several premium features including multiple driving modes, a floating dashboard screen and a ‘Grand Central Console’.
Mileage data: Petrol – 17 kmpl | Diesel – 21.5 km/l
