Suzuki S-Cross 2016 News

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The S-Cross concept SUV unveiled at the Paris motor show this week is ready for production and is expected here late next year or early 2014, a spokesman for Suzuki Australia says. “Europe will get the car first, then we've said we definitely want it,” says company spokesman Andrew Ellis. The S-Cross will fit between the SX-4 hatch and the Kizashi in size and will be the first time Suzuki has made a C-size platform. This platform has a front-drive layout with the ability to support an all-wheel drive system. It will be first used in the production version of the S-Cross - which will be renamed - then used beneath a future hatchback and a sedan. Ellis says the smaller Jimny 4WD and larger Grand Vitara wagon would continue in production and not be replaced by the S-Cross. The SUV version will be available in front-drive and AWD and will face up against compact SUVs including the Nissan Dualis, Volkswagen Tiguan, Mitsubishi ASX and Hyundai ix35. While Europe's version will be made in Hungary, the Australian-bound model is to be built in Japan. Suzuki in Europe has already announced it will use a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel supplied by Fiat but that is the only drivetrain detail available at the car's debut in Paris. Ellis says Australia will get a petrol engine and possibly a diesel, but the origin and capacity of these is not yet known. Suzuki is 9 per cent owned by Volkswagen and has access to a strong list of petrol and diesel engines. However, Suzuki and Volkswagen have a fragmented relationship that is soured further by Fiat's rumours that it wants to take over Suzuki. Suzuki supplies to Fiat the SX-4 - also made in Hungary - which is rebadged Sedici. In return, Fiat supplies Suzuki with diesel engines for European cars, including the same 1.6-litre turbo-diesel fitted to the SX-4/Sedici. Suzuki UK sales and marketing director Dale Wyatt, speaking at the Paris show, says the company was “open to a partnership going forward” with production of the S-Cross.  

   

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. Show organisers are trumpeting 263 brands from 21 countries for the biggest show this year, pointing also to an attendance of 1.26 million people when it was last held in 2012. But Suzuki is not waiting and has produced a sketch and part-car picture of a concept car called the S-Cross. Its size puts it between the Swift and Kizashi and right into the booming compact SUV segment. 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.  

Debuting at Paris motor show in September, the S-Cross points to a future compact crossover vehicle from the Japanese brand. The S-Cross in production form will give Suzuki fresh ammunition in the popular compact softroader market, although it will be interesting to see whether it complements the brand’s SX4 crossover – or replaces it in a few years. Suzuki describes the S-Cross concept as embodying an “Emotion x Quality x Aerodynamics” design theme. The press statement goes on to promise “distinctive dynamic lines” and “design elements that suggest stability and solidity … create a cutting-edge crossover look”. The teaser sketch – and a rendering of a single headlight – aren’t yet enough to judge whether that’ll be the case.  We’ll have to wait until more details are revealed, as the build-up to Paris motor show continues.