Suzuki S-Cross concept for compact SUV

It should make it to Australia in the second half of next year, but will be unveiled at Paris motor show in September.

Suzuki currently has the lead in early teases over Mazda, Mini and Jaguar, with a range of other runners - including Porsche - expected to add their efforts over the next month before the show opens to the public on September 29.

It is said to combine emotion, quality and aerodynamics with a much swoopier look than today's SX4, which could continue alongside the S-Cross once it goes into production. "The S-Cross is a completely different concept to the existing SX4. The current car is more of a hatchback, where this is a dedicated SUV," the general manager of Suzuki Australia, tells Carsguide.

"It is more like a Nissan Dualis-type of car, but with a lot more style." Devers says the S-Cross points to a new generation of cars from Suzuki, which has been starved of stuff since it burst out with the mid-sized Kizashi. "We're now through the Global Financial Crisis and we're still the only company to be profitable for the past 50 years. Now it's time for the research-and-development work to ramp up," says Devers.

"In the next two or three years you will see quite a lot of new stuff." Devers has seen the S-Cross but is reluctant to give any detail ahead of the Paris show, although he sees a place for it in Australia. "If it becomes available to us as a production car, it will probably run parallel to the existing SX4 for a time. It's a very different concept."

While Suzuki is teasing, Jaguar has confirmed it will show the production version of the F-Type sports car at the Paris show and Mini has plans to reveal the showroom-ready Paceman. For Porsche, Paris could mean the public showing of the first spin-off from its Panamera four-door luxury car. Despite lots of speculation about a convertible, the next development of the Panamera is now likely to be a station wagon.