Maruti Suzuki Joins Dark Edition Club: Grand Vitara Phantom Blaq Edition Revealed

The Dark Editions or Black Edition versions of regular car models often gain popularity. For a very long time, it was only brands like Tata that used to offer special edition versions in this shade. Things have now changed, and almost everyone knows about this trick and is using it to boost their sales. Maruti Suzuki also joined the club by introducing the Phantom Blaq Edition of the Grand Vitara SUV.

Nexa is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and the Blaq Edition is part of this celebration. Apart from the unveiling, Maruti has not yet revealed any more details of this SUV. Even the prices for the Blaq Edition SUV are yet to be announced.

Coming to the exterior, the Grand Vitara looks the same as the stock version. The major change on the outside is definitely the colour - it is finished in a matte or satin black shade. It should be noted that the Phantom Blaq Edition is based on the top-end Alpha+ strong hybrid variant.

Coming to other changes, the Grand Vitara gets 17-inch alloy wheels, and all the chrome bits on the exterior have either been removed or replaced with blacked-out trims. Only the Suzuki logos on the front and rear retain chrome.

On the inside, the Grand Vitara remains the same. The Grand Vitara Phantom Blaq Edition gets no major changes inside. The interior of the strong hybrid variant already came with an all-black theme with champagne gold inserts on the dashboard. The seats have leatherette upholstery, and the car also offers all the features one usually gets with the top-end Grand Vitara.

The SUV comes with features like a 9-inch floating-type touchscreen infotainment system that supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It also gets a panoramic sunroof, 360-degree camera, HUD, wireless phone charger, Clarion sound system, and more.

Why Phantom Blaq Edition?

With the rise in competition, the main aim of most car brands is to ensure that their product stands out from the crowd and gets them numbers on the sales chart. The Maruti Grand Vitara is a mid-size SUV that competes with the likes of Hyundai Creta, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun, and Kia Seltos. It is already a competitive segment, and offering such special variants and colours often attracts customers, especially during or just before the festive season.

The Grand Vitara strong hybrid variant is powered by a 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder engine paired with an electric motor. The combined setup generates around 116 bhp and 122 Nm of peak torque. The strong hybrid variant is available with an e-CVT gearbox only. What makes this setup stand out from its competition is the fuel efficiency - the strong hybrid version offers a claimed fuel efficiency of around 27.97 km/l.

Currently, the price for the regular Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV starts at ₹11.42 lakh (ex-showroom) and goes all the way up to ₹20.68 lakh (ex-showroom). The new Phantom Blaq Edition is expected to be priced slightly above the regular version.