Hyundai Exter Vs Maruti Suzuki Fronx Comparison: Which Small SUV Should You Buy?

The micro-SUV segment is heating up with quite some new entrants in the Indian market, but here's how the Maruti Suzuki Fronx and Hyundai Exter fare against each other.

Kickstarting the micro-SUV segment in India was the Maruti Suzuki Ignis. Ever since its launch, the Tata Punch is ruling the roost. Now, two new entrants have entered this market - Maruti Suzuki Fronx and Hyundai Exter. While the Fronx can be considered a misfit for the segment, it has all the ethos and value to be a potent rival to the Hyundai Exter. Buyers are comparing these two lucrative offerings of two of the largest automakers in India. Thus, here’s a comparison of the two to help you understand, which one should you pick between the Hyundai Exter and Maruti Suzuki Fronx.

Hyundai Exter Vs Maruti Suzuki Fronx - Design

In the first glimpse, it is rather easy to distinguish the two from each other. The Hyundai Exter sports an upright stance with a tall profile. The overall design is butch too. It comes with a slew of distinctive elements - H-shaped LED DRLs, H-shaped tail lamps, large roof rails, beefy scuff plates, and chunky cladding. The wheel size, however, is only 15 inches.

Coming down to the Maruti Suzuki Fronx, it is based on the Baleno and similarities are hard to ignore. However, Maruti Suzuki has finished the design in a gorgeous manner. The sloping roof gives a very premium and sporty appeal to the Fronx. It uses a similar styling theme as the larger Grand Vitara with vertically-split headlamps and connected LED tail lamps. Also, it rides on larger 16-inch alloy wheels.

Hyundai Exter Vs Maruti Suzuki Fronx - Cabin

The Exter gets a Grand i10 Nios-inspired dashboard layout, while the Fronx uses a Baleno-borrowed dashboard. The Exter gets a unibody housing for the instrument cluster and infotainment unit. The feature list on the Exter includes an 8-inch infotainment unit, dash cam, electric sunroof and more. While it fails to get adjustable headrests, it does come with six airbags as standard.

Talking of the Fronx, Maruti Suzuki is offering a larger 9-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with wireless Android Auto & Apple CarPlay, a 360-degree camera and more. Space is roughly the same on both cars, but the Exter gets a larger 391-litre trunk volume, while the Fronx gets a smaller 308L boot space. However, the Fronx feels the more premium of the two with the Baleno-based dashboard layout.

Hyundai Exter Vs Maruti Suzuki Fronx - Performance & Mileage

Mechanically, the Maruti Suzuki Fronx comes out as the more superior of the two. It comes with two engine choices - 1.2L NA petrol and 1.0L turbo-petrol. These motors push out 90 PS/113 Nm and 100 PS/147 Nm, respectively. As for the mileage, the Fronx returns 21.79 kmpl with 5MT and 22.89 kmpl with 5AMT. The turbo-petrol trims deliver 21.50 kmpl with 5MT and 20.01 kmpl with 6AT.

The Hyundai Exter is on sale exclusively with a 1.2L NA petrol, and it comes with a peak power output of 83 PS and 114 Nm of max torque. The motor is available with two transmission choices - 5-speed MT and 5-speed AMT, delivering a mileage of 19.4 kmpl and 19.2 kmpl, respectively. Also, both of these models are on sale with factory-fitted CNG kits. The Fronx CNG delivers 28.51 km/kg, whereas the Exter returns 27.1 km/kg.

Watch Hyundai Exter Review:

Hyundai Exter Vs Maruti Suzuki Fronx - Specifications

Both Exter and Fronx have great road presence for their dimensions. The Hyundai Exter is  3,815 mm long, 1,710 mm wide, and 1,631 mm tall. It has a wheelbase of 2,450 mm and a ground clearance of 185 mm. The Fronx, on the other hand, is 3,995 mm long, 1,765 mm wide, and 1,550 mm tall. Wheelbase and ground clearance for the Fronx measure 2,520 mm and 190 mm, respectively.

Watch Maruti Suzuki Fronx Review:

Hyundai Exter Vs Maruti Suzuki Fronx - Price

The Exter is priced from Rs 6.00 lakh for base-spec to Rs 11.72 lakh for the top-spec trim. As for the Maruti Suzuki Fronx, it is priced from Rs 7.46 for the base-spec Sigma to Rs 12.98 lakh for the top-spec Alpha AT variant.