2015 Suzuki Celerio on sale this week after brake fix

The Suzuki Celerio will return to showrooms after an urgent fix following brake test failures in the UK.

Australia's cheapest car from a mainstream brand will return to dealerships by the end of this week after a stalled start following a brake test failure.

Suzuki delayed the introduction of the Celerio hatchback a fortnight ago after Autocar UK magazine experienced brake failures during testing of two separate cars.

The company held back the 50 cars in stock in Australia and corralled the other 100 cars that had arrived after the fault was found. No cars had been delivered to customers.

Changes are already being made on the production line and we have 150 completely revised parts to install on the cars already here

Suzuki Japan has airfreighted a batch of 150 newly designed "brake release clips", a device which is intended to stay depressed in a serious crash to prevent injury.

But during testing by Autocar magazine the brake release clips stayed depressed even though there had not been a crash; the testers had to take evasive action to bring the car to a stop on the closed road circuit.

Suzuki Australia boss Andrew Moore told CarsGuide: "Changes are already being made on the production line and we have 150 completely revised parts to install on the cars already here."

A statement from the company said: "Recent issues discovered in press tests in the UK have now been rectified in all affected markets including Australia, and cars will be available for test drives at Suzuki Dealers next week."

Autocar magazine was testing the Suzuki Celerio at the Millbrook Proving Ground, a closed road circuit also used by car manufacturers for testing.

The brake pedal became stuck in the fully depressed position and had no effect on the Suzuki's speed

One of the tests by the magazine is an emergency stop from 80mph, or 129km/h.

"This allows for assessment of the car's behaviour during heavy braking, the functionality of its stability systems and the stopping distance and time itself," Autocar magazine reported.

During the first full-force braking test however, the magazine found all stopping power was "immediately lost upon application of the brakes".

"The brake pedal became stuck in the fully depressed position and had no effect on the Suzuki's speed," Autocar magazine reported.

"No braking effort could be exerted by forcing the pedal up and reapplying it."

The testers slowed the car by using the handbrake and engine braking.

The company has taken action globally and fitted new brake release clip parts to each vehicle sold

Suzuki then issued a replacement car for the magazine to repeat the test, and the same fault occurred.

"The same test resulted in the failure repeating itself," Autocar magazine said.

Following the original report, Suzuki said there were no brake problems reported by owners of several thousand Celerios sold in left-hand-drive markets in the past few months.

But the company has taken action globally and fitted new brake release clip parts to each vehicle sold and those built in future.

In Australia, Suzuki's swift action, and the fact no cars had been delivered to customers, meant the fault will not be recorded as a safety recall.