The Maruti Suzuki Victoris made a mark with its fine balance of striking looks, a loaded feature list, and a diverse set of powertrains that includes segment leading hybrid technology. Here is why this formula was successful in clinching the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2026 Award
The perfect formula is one that is nearly impossible to achieve, and even if it does happen, it is an extremely rare scenario. So, a victorious formula is a better suited term as it takes multiple factors into consideration to determine which formula comes out on top. Such a phrase is also applicable to the automotive space, especially when it comes to the Indian Car Of The Year award, one of the highest coveted honours in the industry. After a long and meticulous process of testing and jury evaluation, it was the Maruti Suzuki Victoris that came out on top as the Indian Car Of The Year 2026, and there’s many factors that helped make that happen
Dressed to Impress
A strong first impression matters, and the Maruti Suzuki Victoris does just that. Being the flagship of the Arena range, it looks the part: a butch stance, yet with a balance of the sleek and the modern. Highlights include a fairly upright nose and a nicely sculpted front bumper, with aggressive LED projector headlamps and LED daytime running lights (DRL) with unique separations above it. The overall silhouette gets strong character lines, squared-off wheel-arches, thick cladding, and a sloping roofl ine, thus adding some proper SUV muscle. This is complemented by snazzy 17-inch alloy wheels with the connected LED tail-lamp strip giving a nice sense of width. Overall, it makes for a well-balanced design that doesn’t need to try hard to stand out.
Step inside and you get a far more lasting impression, with a properly modern layout featuring a generous amount of soft-touch materials with a nice and tactile fit-and-finish for a premium ambience. There’s a healthy dose of physical controls, all in the right places, a boon for ergonomics. Comfortable seating and space are a fundamental requirement of a mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV), and the Victoris fulfills that ably with plush seats, supportive enough to accommodate persons of varying bodily stature comfortably. It gets even better at the rear, where three individuals can sit in a relaxed manner, thanks to generous leg-room and knee-room, the head-room being more than adequate for a nearly six-foot tall individual. This cabin layout also gains brownie points for the practicality aspects with decent front door pad space, multiple storage options around the centre console, and decently sized cup-holders
Diversity of Choice
The Maruti Suzuki Victoris leaves you spoilt for choice in engine and transmission options, catering to different driving preferences. You can opt for either a 103-hp 1.5-litre K15C four-cylinder mild-hybrid petrol engine with a CNG option or a strong hybrid set-up that combines a 92.45-hp 1.5-litre petrol engine and an electric motor powered by a made-in-India lithium-ion battery, to produce 80 hp and 144 Nm. Gearbox options include a five-speed manual and a six-speed automatic for the mild-hybrid petrol motor, with the strong hybrid petrol getting an e-CVT. The mild-hybrid petrol engine can also be had with the AllGrip all-wheel-drive system.
On the whole, we, at Car India, as well as the ICOTY jury, were impressed by the Victoris’ user-friendly, efficient, and refined driving qualities, as well as its versatile handling and smooth ride quality. The steering is finely tuned with a quick response, making directional changes easy, yet it also feels largely planted while tackling high-speed bends. Powertrain delivery in the mild-hybrid is nicely refined for relaxed driving, both within the city and on the highway. Be it a manual or automatic gearbox set-up, the shifts are slick, which is a boon, especially in everyday traffic. The strong hybrid set-up also shines in its own way, offering plenty of acceleration when required via Maruti Suzuki’s Intelligent Electric Hybrid System. Depending on driving conditions, there’s a smart transition among pure electric, petrol, and hybrid to maximize efficiency. Efficiency is a strong point with an impressive, claimed figure of 28.65 km/l, with the mild hybrid boasting of a claimed fuel efficiency of up to 21.18 km/l. Taking all these factors into consideration, the Victoris’ efficiency is impressive across all powertrains, belying its size.
Go-anywhere Capability
The ability to tackle challenging roads is a great virtue for a mid-size SUV. The Maruti Suzuki Victoris can do all that with the AllGrip Select, being the first Arena model to have such capabilities. With the help of a simple push-and-turn dial, this all-wheel-drive system with various driving modes allows one to modify their driving style based on the surface or scenario one needs to tackle. Such adjustability gives the driver assurance and freedom to tackle the most difficult terrain while still offering a decent balance of fuel efficiency.
There are four driving modes with the AllGrip Select: Auto, Sport, Snow, and Lock. We had a perfect opportunity to truly experience the AllGrip all-wheel drive at its best in a specially curated off-road experience zone. It had all the fundamental challenges for an all-wheel-drive 8 CAR INDIA January 2026 www.carindia.in SUV, such as a rock bed, a pothole section, a tipover section with a 28-degree section that is not for the faint-hearted, an articulation section, and challenging side inclines. The Victoris felt almost effortless while tackling all these hurdles, especially around the tipover section, where there was no hint of flexing, and, with the Snow terrain mode, slippage was minimal while climbing the low grip surface. The Lock mode gave a near 50:50 power distribution ratio, which proved helpful in tackling the side inclines. Overall, the Maruti Suzuki Victoris with its all-wheel-drive technology offers great off-road capabilities while still being able to maintain a stable and reliable on-road performance. An all-wheel-drive option also gives the Victoris a further leg up in a segment where most SUVs have front-wheel-drive powertrains.
Features and Price
Another reason why the Maruti Suzuki Victoris is a worthy ICOTY 2026 winner is its very well-loaded feature package. It includes wireless smartphone connectivity, a wireless phone charging pad, 60W Type-C charging ports, an electric dual-pane panoramic sunroof, an Alexa voice assistant, an eight-way powered driver’s seat, a head-up display, and ventilated front seats for when you need to stay cool on hot summer days, especially around a long red traffic light situation. There are also several firsts for a Maruti Suzuki vehicle that include an easy-to-use and modern 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster that looks simple and displays all the necessary information, a gesture-controlled powered tailgate, and 11 different viewing angles for the 360-degree camera which comes in handy for navigating tight parking spaces. There’s also a premium sounding eight-speaker audio system with Dolby Atmos tuning, that provides a crisp and premium audible experience for the audiophiles to jam away on long road trips or the everyday city chaos, and a 64-colour ambient lighting to achieve the desired ambience. Maruti Suzuki has taken a big step in the realm of safety with the Victoris, which got an impressive five-star safety rating in the Bharat NCAP and Global NCAP’s recent crash tests. Helping its case are features such as six airbags as standard, ABS and ESC, ISOFIX, and another new first for Maruti: Level 2 ADAS. More importantly, the ADAS features are tuned well for Indian road conditions. Another plus is its boot capacity that satisfies the practicality needs of a family. However, it is the CNG variants that grabs the attention here, with the CNG tank mounted in the underbody, which is a boon for boot volume. The biggest pull for the Maruti Suzuki Victoris, undoubtedly, is its price range: from Rs 10.50 lakh to Rs 19.99 lakh (ex showroom). It is a very competitive offering for what it brings to the table, being a well-rounded product overall, benefi ting from Arena’s vast network of dealerships in the country.
Emerging Victorious at ICOTY 2026
Winning the highest honour in the industry was an impressive feat for the Maruti Suzuki Victoris, for these awards bring some of the senior-most and highly experienced journalists from top Indian automotive publications and online portals together to decide the standout machines from the year through a meticulous process of jury members driving and debating over which car would win. The evaluation process for ICOTY 2026 had cars being evaluated on a variety of criteria, such as price, fuel efficiency, styling, comfort, safety, performance, practicality, technological innovation, value for money, and suitability for Indian driving conditions. The Victoris had the likes of the Hyundai Creta Electric, Hyundai Venue, Kia Carens Clavis EV, Kia Syros, Mahindra XEV 9e, Škoda Kylaq, and Tata Harrier.ev to compete with as part of the shortlisted final contenders. With its fine balance of features, design, and all-rounder appeal, the Victoris left the entire jury impressed. With this win, the Maruti Suzuki Victoris is proof that the carmaker did a great job of producing a car that offers a package that is modern, good-looking, efficient, feature-loaded, reliable, safe, and enjoyable to drive during daily use, all within a competitive price range, while also being able to benefit greatly from a strong dealer network in the country. All these attributes make it a truly multi-faceted offering.
Testimonials
The Maruti Suzuki Victoris is a worthy winner despite some tough competition. I feel this mid-size SUV o ers plenty of car within a reasonable price range. It has a fine formula of charming looks, a loaded feature list, a premium cabin feeling, the CNG convenience, as well as the option of strong hybrid and all-wheel-drive within that competitive price point. Thus, it makes for a great all-round winner.” — Gaurav Davare
The Maruti Victoris was launched last year, this mid-size SUV looks well-proportioned and has just the correct mix of a modern design and bold stance that one expects of an SUV. The quality of the fit-and-finish of the interior is very good and has a lot of space for the occupants. The hybrid powerplant is refined and delivers good performance at the same time, with excellent fuel e iciency. The ride quality is on the firm side, which gives you good high-speed handling. The Victoris ticks all the boxes, and that makes it a worthy winner of the ICOTY 2026.” — Aspi Bhathena
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