Suzuki News

Most of Australia’s new cars are, generally, getting safer and safer.

Suzuki came under a brief volley of fire for its use of the ‘hybrid’ badge when it launched the current Suzuki Swift, a car with only mild-hybrid capability.

It’s been over five years now since COVID lockdowns started and in some way it feels like a lifetime ago. For a lot of people buying new cars during this period, however, there were long wait times. COVID lockdowns were a key reason for this, but another major reason for delays was the global shortage of semiconductors.

Suzuki has confirmed new timing for three models coming to Australia by early 2026 in an overhaul of the brand’s small SUV range.The Suzuki Vitara Hybrid and electric e Vitara will join the new Suzuki Fronx Hybrid as the Japanese brand aims to “solidify its presence in the Light SUV segment”, though the new timing announcement means there have been delays.Suzuki Australia hasn’t confirmed full local specs - or any specs at all - in the announcement, only broadly outlining the models. Here’s what to expect - starting with the Fronx, the soonest of the trio to arrive given its September 1 on-sale date.The Fronx Hybrid, as Suzuki is calling it, will most likely be a 48-volt or ‘mild-hybrid’ system in truth, utilising a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine.It’s a light SUV with an almost ‘coupe’ silhouette thanks to a sloping roofline, and is built in India by the brand’s subsidiary Maruti.It’ll be followed by a hybridised version of the Suzuki Vitara arriving in Q1 2026 as well as the first electric model Suzuki Australia will sell, the e Vitara.Like the Fronx, the Vitara Hybrid will be a 48-volt system according to comments to CarsGuide from Suzuki Australia last year. A ‘full hybrid’ Vitara is available for sale in Europe.It follows the same name/drivetrain philosophy that led the brand to market the also mild-hybrid Swift hatchback as the Swift Hybrid in Australia.Finally, the fully-electric Vitara will also arrive in the first quarter of 2026.Three key versions of the EV are available - one with a 49kWh battery and 106kW/189Nm driving the front wheels, another FWD version with a 61kWh battery and 128kW/189Nm and an all-wheel drive version with the same bigger battery but an additional 48kW rear motor for a total output of 135kW and 300Nm.Suzuki Australia says local specifications and an official release date “will be the subject of future announcements”.

Who would have thought the sight of red and blue flashing lights in the rear view mirror could put a smile on your face?

Chinese cars aren’t just about being the budget option anymore, and their ability to act fast, take risks and disregard the status quo is an existential threat to some of the world’s biggest manufacturers in Australia.I’ve increasingly had these thoughts as I’ve been driving ambitious new Chinese cars week-to-week against new offerings from their more established European, Japanese, and Korean rivals.It’s not as though these new offerings aren’t riddled with issues, some of them mundane and others extremely frustrating as you can read about in our recent reviews of cars like the Leapmotor C10, Geely EX-5, and Jaecoo J8. But outside the pricing and sheer speed to market, it’s the complete lack of fear to try something new which is making them stand out even in the most congested market segments.My favourite recent examples include Zeekr’s wild 009 performance people mover and the smaller but absurdly modular Mix, as well as the 7X electric mid-size SUV.There’s XPeng’s range of cars, from the surprisingly tidy G6, which has already arrived in Australia, alongside the soon-to-arrive G9 large SUV and Mona M03 sedan.Most recently there’s the wild GWM Tank 700, a $100k-plus twin-turbo V6 plug-in hybrid off-road monster clearly designed to rival some of the biggest names in the industry like G-Wagen, Defender and LandCruiser.That’s not to mention BYD’s mould-breaking Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute, which has single-handedly upended the predominantly diesel segment and suddenly made heroes of the post-Falcon and Commodore era like the HiLux and D-Max look relatively antiquated.These new Chinese options have a lot in common. They have ambitious futuristic designs, feature-laden cabins with clever software features (albeit not all of them good) and a complete disregard for established industry norms.Performance people mover? Any other manufacturer would say a resounding ‘no’ to that, but Zeekr and XPeng both reckon they can simply create the hype for one out of thin air.Even just the concept of people movers in general. Toyota’s local division constantly dismisses the idea of bringing its luxurious Alphard to our market, despite the fact that it consistently ranks as Australia’s most popular grey import and sold in numbers orders of magnitude greater than the now-discontinued and diesel-only Granvia, which the brand offered as an also-ran alternative thanks to its parts commonality with the HiAce.Yet soon Australia will be again flooded with people mover offerings from the likes of BYD’s Denza brand as well as Xpeng and Zeekr, an existential threat to the Kia Carnival, which has remained largely unchallenged for the last few years.Even the entire concept of a Chinese semi-luxury brand like Jaecoo or Zeekr would have been scoffed at a handful of years ago, yet here they are, and not with one or two models, but fully-fledged line-ups.You can go even more granular than that. Recently I had a new Suzuki Swift ‘hybrid’ as a long-termer. It’s a sweet little car and technically ticks a lot of boxes for the intended buyer. The issue? It goes into battle against the new MG3.There’s a few problems with this. Firstly, the Suzuki feels like a facelift of the previous car, rather than a new-generation as claimed, and secondly, it’s not a ‘real hybrid’ in the sense that there’s no electric motor large enough to independently drive the wheels.In comparison, the MG launches with a clean-sheet, screen-centric interior (for better or worse), and an interesting dedicated hybrid transmission system with plenty of electric driving potential. Again, the MG is far from perfect, but it’s the relative ambition on show which could make or break a sale.Another example I drove recently was the Audi Q6 e-tron. It’s a great luxury mid-size electric SUV. The problem is, Volkswagen Group made a big song and dance about its brand-new PPE platform as though it was going to revolutionize the space, and the problem is the end product is just good when it needs to be stellar.In comparison, the Zeekr 7X I drove at the end of 2024 in China completely outgunned my expectations. It’s a similar offering; a ground-up new mid-size luxury electric SUV, but it brings a surprisingly plush interior (in some aspects, nicer than the Audi), with very clever software features, a coherent and innovative design and solid motor and battery specs.Zeekr was so confident we’d be impressed by it, they brought a current BMW X5 for us to test it against, and, to put it simply, the 7X felt much more a product of today. Plus it looks set to cost closer to $75k than the $100k of the base Q6.Now I'll stop at this point to add the caveat that just because these new offerings are ambitious - whether it's their design, price, market segment, or features - they're not always objectively better vehicles.The point is: at both ends of the price spectrum now, Chinese brands are putting the pressure on and tempting buyers away at a time where traditional brands can't afford to lose their audience.You don’t even need to take my word for it. It’s clear as day in the latest VFACTs figures for new car registrations in Australia.At the low end of the market, the squeeze is undeniable. The once-dominating Suzuki is down 19.8 per cent this year as it faces particular pressure from both MG and Chery, and cult hero SsangYong from Korea is taking a big hit as GWM and JAC muscle in on the territory of its humble Musso ute, the brand’s sales also dropping 27.6 per cent year-on-year.Even Mitsubishi is struggling to keep up, its affordable ASX now discontinued and new competition particularly fierce in the same segments as its core Triton ute and Outlander mid-sizer.BYD’s surge to the front of the EV charts has the once-dominant Tesla on the ropes for the first time, and it’s clear that some niche parts of the market are struggling to deal with the new car landscape, with Volvo down 21 per cent year-on-year and Jeep down 20.8 per cent.Granted it’s hard to attribute new Chinese players purely to these issues, with some ageing product no doubt to blame, but it’s worth pondering whether the lost volume will ever be recovered with so much competition tempting buyers away.Some traditional players are fairing better than others. Toyota is stable thanks to a steady stream of refreshed versions of its popular range of hybrids (although a question mark hangs above its ageing HiLux), while Kia and Hyundai take a different path, leaning into offering a diverse range of hybrids and electric cars with their own ambitious design allure.None of this will last. Despite a new range of ambitious products, even the once trailblazing MG is feeling a bit of heat, down 12.7 per cent this year as it tries to outgrow its cheap and cheerful phase, the mantle of which has been taken up by Chery.No doubt the same fate could await its contemporaries, as even more Chinese brands have designs on the Australian market - widely seen as a microcosm of other markets like the US and Europe - a perfect testbed for global expansion plans.Eventually the dust will settle, but how many automakers - new or old - will survive an increasingly intense race to 2030 seems impossible to tell.

A bold successor for the Mazda CX-3 is in the wings at last. Believed to be badged the CX-20, the company’s smallest SUV and second best-selling model after the evergreen CX-5 mid-sizer is set to surface sometime before the end of next year, as a 2027 model.

It’s EOFY time again!

The little Yugo hatchback made by now long-gone Serbian brand Zastava Automobili appears to be making a return to a market that's increasingly being dominated by new Chinese brands, and in another twist, it won't be electric.Made from 1980 to 2008 the Yugo was popular in the United States, India, Egypt and Eastern Europe. The little car was also sold in Australia before Zastava Automobili ended operations.The Yugo brand, however, has been bought by German university professor, Dr Alexander Bjelic, who plans to resurrect the small hatch that's yet to be named.While a production version is still far off, Dr Bjelic used the recent 2025 Munich Car Design Event to show off a concept version. The catch is, it's a tiny scale model in a plastic box for now with Dr Bjelic aiming to have a full-size prototype ready for the 2027 Belgrade Expo. The model shows off the little hatch’s retro-cool looks with a modern twist on the Yugo hatch. The futuristic looks may be reminiscent of a tiny version of Hyundai's Ioniq 5 electric SUV, but Yugo says its upcoming car will be powered by an internal combustion engine. The brand said an electric variant may also become available at a later point.The original Yugo hatch was known for its affordability but had a poor reputation for reliability and build quality. While the car was sold in Australia along with 76 other countries, it's uncertain whether the resurrected version will be sold in Australia.If the Yugo hatch did make it Down Under it would be up against fierce tiny rivals such as Volkswagen's Polo, the Skoda Fabia, Toyota Yaris, Suzuki Swift, MG3 and Mazda2.Still, if Yugo can price the car lower than its competitors and arrive with a design that looks as good as the concept then it could be onto a winner. 

Slate Auto, a new electric car company backed by tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, has just launched its first vehicle in the United States.