New Suzuki Vitara to Debut at the Paris Motor Show
Suzuki has just revealed the 2015 Suzuki Vitara ahead of its October debut at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. Even though the small Japanese automaker isn’t selling cars in North America anymore, this compact crossover proves that they’re still intent on competing at a global level. The new Vitara is their answer to the uber-popular Nissan Juke.
Just as a reminder, you may have seen a similar version of the Vitara somewhere before… It’s based on the Suzuki iV-4 Concept from the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, pictured below.
As you can see, Suzuki has kept much of the iV-4 Concept alive in the production model, with the most noticeable differences being the normal-looking tires and the redesigned grille.
The Vitara may also sound familiar because Suzuki has used the name before on a very similar model that was phased out in 2005. Except, where the old Vitara likely would have competed with today’s Nissan Qashqai, Suzuki has shrunk the model to compete in a more compact segment. Now, the current Suzuki SX4 S-Cross fills the role of Qashqai competitor, with the Grand Vitara slotting even above that.
At the time of the iV-4 Concept’s debut, Suzuki said that the future production model would be “an SUV for the present day: light in weight and boasting among the lowest CO2 emissions in its class.”
Unfortunately, we still don’t know very much about the new Suzuki Vitara. However, what we do know lives up to Suzuki’s hype… It will likely be offered with a 1.6L petrol or diesel engine, both of which should be able to achieve class-leading fuel economy. For the more off-road inclined drivers, Suzuki will offer the Vitara with the same ALLGRIP intelligent four-wheel drive system seen in the SX4 S-Cross.
Of course, as we all know, the Nissan Juke didn’t break open the compact crossover market segment on fuel efficiency alone – it had the looks and the fun-factor to go along with it. Suzuki is looking to take their own spin on the conventional compact crossover by making their offering more customizable than the competition. Thus, each Vitara will be available with a number of trim and color customizations, which we’re excited to learn more about at the Paris reveal.
Even though at first glance it appears that Suzuki’s new compact crossover inherits a lot from their current and past products, the fact is that the 2015 Vitara will be built on a totally new platform that’s expected to underpin a number of future models.
If you’d like to see more of the new Suzuki Vitara, you can either wait for the premiere in October, or you can whet your appetite with the teaser video below:
