Chevrolet Beat vs Maruti Ritz

The two contenders that we are talking about, which fit in the same category, are Maruti Suzuki Ritz and Chevrolet Beat. Both the cars come with youthful contemporary designs and powerful mills. These two are so different, yet so similar, thus it can be confusing to choose one between these two. Maruti Suzuki Ritz and Chevrolet Beat, both are very stylish and unconventional cars that have broken the myth of Indian fondness for subtle design. Maruti Suzuki India, which has carried the ‘big Indian dream’ tag with their budget cars for almost two decades, started being experimental with their cars with Swift and Ritz. Maruti Ritz, which is the Indian avatar of Suzuki Splash, was brought to the Indian roads in 2009. There are diverse perceptions about the looks of this car; some take it as a contemporary excellence while others think that it's disproportional and awkward. But on the whole this is a high selling hatchback car and stands second in its segment in the terms of sale. Maruti Ritz's exteriors are out-of-the-league-different with the front fascia blessed with parted grille and big headlamps with a higher mounted V-shaped bonnet. The rear design is very unusual too and curvy and big boomerang shaped headlights make it different from the other models present in the country. The side profile looks good because of alloy wheels and aerodynamic curves.

On the other hand, Chevrolet Beat comes from the house of General Motors, which is known for its creative excellence in automobiles. The Chevrolet cars are known for possessing modern and aggressive looks and Beat is exactly all about this. No one expected that GM would launch exactly the same model of the Beat, which they showcased at Detroit 2010 as a concept. Thus, no doubt Beat has brought freshness to the hatchback segment. The youthful and modern design makes it more elegant and ahead from other cars. The broad front fascia looks perfect, with big pointed twin-barrel headlamps and parted grille which has chrome touches and Chevy sign mounted on it. The side profile looks well with alloy wheels and aerodynamic lines. The rear door handles are placed up on the doors right next to the rear window. The roof-rails, tail-lamps and front fog lamps also help it look more effective. Clearly Chevrolet Beat has more effective exteriors than Maruti Ritz and takes an edge over Ritz in the terms of exteriors.

Maruti cars have never been exceptional in terms of their interiors, as these are usually simple. However, Maruti Ritz is a different case; Maruti has made a big leap in the quality of interiors, but still it falls behind its competitors. Upholstery fabrics, texture and plastic quality is good, dashboard has been designed well and also it’s wide enough. The front seats provide you with immense comfort and drivability and leg space. The car is very roomy and comfortable and it can accommodate five adults easily.  Powerful AC, music system, ABS, dual airbags and other features make car more comfy, secure and efficient. On the other hand, GM worked very hard and made the Beat different. Beat offers same freshness with its interiors as well. The car becomes alive in the night with the cool blue light around the controls. The piano black finish and better plastic qualities with good upholstery fabric also adds extra charm to interiors.

The engine is the most important thing in a car. Both the cars feature a 1.2L 16 valve petrol engine, but they are different in power output and other aspects. Maruti Ritz features and specifications says that this car has a finely tuned K-series engine which churns out 84bhp at 6000 revs with a max turning power of 113Nm at 4500rpm. The engine is a piece of engineering and performs superbly at low speeds, standstill at mid-range and performs like a rocket over 5000rpm. It don’t sound stressed and also has a very low NVH ratio. While, Chevy Beat’s mill is not as refined as Ritz’s but it is also good as it produces 74bhp at 6200rpm and torque of 105Nm at 4400rpm. The Beat’s engine performs well under 3000rpm but it sounds stressed on higher rpms. Whereas, the Diesel Maruti Ritz has 1.3L DDiS motor, same as Maruti Swift, and produces maximum power of 75 PS at 4000 rpm and a torque of 190 Nm at 2000 rpm. The Chevy Beat Diesel houses 1-litre XSDE SMARTECH 3-cylinder Common Rail Diesel engine, capable of producing a maximum power output of 58bhp at 4000rpm and a maximum torque of 150Nm at 1750rpm.

So in the both fuel options Maruti Ritz leads from the Beat in power output as well in drivability. Starting with Ritz, with regards to the price and fuel efficiency, Maruti Ritz price starts at Rs. 4.16 Lakh for its base petrol model Ritz Lxi and goes up to Rs. 5.73 Lakh for its top-end diesel variant Ritz Vdi ABS. while the Maruti Ritz gives a mileage of 19.1kmpl for petrol variant and 21.2 for diesel. On the other hand, Chevrolet Beat price starts at Rs. 3.72 Lakh for the base petrol model Beat PS and goes up to Rs. 5.69 Lakh for diesel top-end diesel variant Beat LT Option. The Chevrolet Beat mileage is 13.29kmpl for petrol variant and 25.44kmpl for diesel variant. Recently, I shared that Compact SUVs, The Future of Family Cars.