The Weekly Advertiser Horsham

Suzuki reveals Vitara facelift

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Suzuki has uncovered the updated version of its Vitara small SUV, revealing limited details of the new model that is expected to arrive on Australian shores sometime next year.

Revealed in Uk-market specificat­ion, Suzuki will replace the overseas Vitara’s entry-level 86kw-156nm 1.6-litre aspirated four-cylinder engine with the 82kw-160nm turbocharg­ed 1.0-litre three-cylinder donk as seen in the Baleno and Swift.

However, Australian versions are likely to retain the 1.6-litre unit, with Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota telling Goauto the aspirated engine had been well received by customers, and worked well with the Vitara locally.

The fate of the top-spec 88kw320nm 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine is a different story, with the UK market dropping the oil-burner and Australia a good chance to do the same, with the majority of sales coming from the aforementi­oned 1.6-litre and 103kw220nm turbocharg­ed 1.4-litre petrol unit in Turbo variants.

The brand has kept exterior styling similar to the existing version, but has replaced the two horizontal grille louvres with vertical ones, while also making some tweaks grille.

New chrome inserts have gone in around the foglight surrounds, and the grey trim on the front of the bumper to the lower has been replaced with a black design.

Headlight design looks to remain virtually the same, while the tail-lights score LED technology.

Suzuki says new alloy wheel designs will be available, as well as two new paint colours.

Inside, the updated model will get soft-touch materials on the upper instrument panel and a new colour central informatio­n display for the instrument cluster.

Suzuki has not gone into detail as to what other features will be offered on the new Vitara, but says the new model will gain active safety features as standard on top-spec versions including autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognitio­n, blindspot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert.

Through the first half of 2018, Suzuki has sold 2560 examples of the Vitara, down 20.7 percent compared with the same period last year, but still enough to be the second best-selling model for the brand behind the Swift light car with 4364 sales.

The Vitara still comfortabl­y trails the best sellers in the small SUV segment, behind the likes of the Mitsubishi ASX with 9899 sales, Mazda CX-3, 8815, Subaru XV, 7330, Nissan Qashqai, 7213 and Honda HR-V, 6763.

The current fourth-generation model first went on sale in September 2015, with the range being bolstered with turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel variants at later points.

Pricing, further specificat­ion and concrete timing will be announced closer to the model’s launch.

 ??  ?? FACELIFT: The updated Suzuki Vitara small SUV features new styling, safety features and equipment.
FACELIFT: The updated Suzuki Vitara small SUV features new styling, safety features and equipment.

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