Suzuki reveals Vitara facelift
BY ROBBIE WALLIS | 1st Aug 2018
SUZUKI has uncovered the updated version of its Vitara small SUV, revealing limited details of the new model that is expected to arrive on Australian shores sometime next year.
Revealed in UK-market specification, Suzuki will replace the overseas Vitara’s entry-level 86kW/156Nm 1.6-litre aspirated four-cylinder engine with the 82kW/160Nm turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder donk as seen in the Baleno and Swift.
However local versions are likely to retain the 1.6-litre unit, with Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota telling GoAuto that the aspirated engine has been well received by customers, and works well with the Vitara locally.
The fate of the top-spec 88kW/320Nm 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine is a different story, with the UK market dropping the oil-burner and Australia a good chance to do the same with the majority of sales coming from the aforementioned 1.6-litre and 103kW/220Nm turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol unit in Turbo variants.
The brand has kept exterior styling similar to the existing version, but has replaced the two horizontal grille louvres with vertical ones, while also making some tweaks to the lower grille.
New chrome inserts have gone in around the foglight surrounds, and the grey trim on the front of the bumper has been replaced with a black design.
Headlight design looks to remain virtually the same, while the tail-lights score LED technology. Suzuki says new alloys wheel designs will be available, as well as two new paint colours.
Inside, the updated model will get soft-touch materials on the upper instrument panel and a new colour central information display for the instrument cluster.
Suzuki has not gone into detail as to what other features will be offered on the new Vitara, but says the new model will gain active safety features as standard on top-spec versions including autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition, blind-spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert.
Through the first half of 2018, Suzuki has sold 2560 examples of the Vitara, down 20.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, but still enough to be the second best-selling model for the brand behind the Swift light car (4364).
The Vitara still comfortably trails the best sellers in the small SUV segment, behind the likes of the Mitsubishi ASX (9899), Mazda CX-3 (8815), Subaru XV (7330), Nissan Qashqai (7213) and Honda HR-V (6763).
The current fourth-generation model first went on sale in September 2015, with the range being bolstered with turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel variants at later points.
Pricing, further specification and concrete timing will be announced closer to the model’s launch.
