Set to be positioned above Grand Vitara, the new SUV will find itself in the middle of Chinese territory.
The Suzuki Across, the Japanese carmaker’s new flagship SUV, is on its way to South Africa.
Introduced last year by Maruti Suzuki in India as the Victoris, the Across will slot in above the Grand Vitara in the manufacturer’s local portfolio.
Pricing and specifications has not been announced, although it has been widely speculated that the range could feature mild hybrid technology. The brand’s first and only local car to feature hybrid technology, the Grand Vitara, dropped the electrically assisted model from its line-up last year.
Suzuki Across makes a Pitstop
In this week’s episode of The Citizen Motoring‘s Pitstop podcast, we discuss the new arrival’s position in the local market. We look at which models it will compete against and determine that the brand, which has been very successful locally at the more affordable end of the market, might have to ready itself for a huge fight for market share.
Suzuki’s top-selling car is the Swift. Its entire range is priced below R300 000, while the popular Fronx starts under the R300k mark. This is a price range that is mostly protected by the enormous amount of SUV/crossover offerings from China. The Grand Vitara finds life tough in this bracket as the competition around the R350 000 mark constantly increases.
Two engine options
The Suzuki Victoris in India features two engines, a 1.5-litre petrol engine and 1.5-litre self-charging hybrid. The KB15C 1.5-litre petrol mill is a slightly tweaked update of the KB15B featuring in many local Suzukis and Toyotas. It sends 76kW/139Nm to the from wheels in via five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
ALSO READ: First batch of Suzuki’s new flagship SUV en-route to South Africa
The petrol variant is available with all-wheel drive, but only in auto guise.
The hybrid powertrain is source from Toyota and outputs 68kW/141Nm. It is mated exclusively to CVT.
