Suzuki Australia joins Toyota in committing to hybrid powertrains for most models, first BEV to launch in 2025

June 6, 2024June 5, 2024 Bruce Newton 10940 Views EVX, Fronx, S-Cross, suzuki, Swift, Vitara

In just 18 months Suzuki Australia is planning to reposition itself from electric zero to hero.

Starting with the launch of the mild hybrid Swift Hybrid compact passenger car on June 15, the Japanese blue collar brand will swap most of its range to petrol-electric hybrid by late 2025.

It will then top off this wholesale overhaul with the launch of its first battery electric vehicle before the end of 2025 that will be its flagship and most expensive model.

“I would say flagship not only in price but in spec, “ confirmed Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota

The launch of the Swift will be followed in early 2025 by facelifted versions of the Hungarian-built Vitara and S-Cross small SUVs with hybrid drivetrains.

Later in the year the Indian-built Fronx sub-compact crossover will be introduced with petrol-electric power at the same time as the ICE-only Ignis mini-SUV is being phased out.

That will leave the Jimny 4×4 wagon and previous generation Swift Sport as the only models in the range not offering hybrid options.

“This [Swift] is chapter one,” said Pachota. “By the end of next year the majority of our range will be hybrid. Except for Jimny.”

In fact, Pachota confirmed, the intention is for the Swift, Vitara, S-Cross and Fronx to be exclusively hybrid in much the same way as Toyota has just announced its passenger cars and light duty SUV now are in Australia.

“As you can see from the Swift introduction, I said ‘hybrid from the ground up let’s go’. So my plan for the future is to do the same,” said Pachota.

“I’d like to bring everything into hybrid and have a complete hybrid platform.

“That is what I am working toward. Eventually it will get there, there’s no doubt, eventually everything will be hybrid, or some form of electrification or a different fuel.

“But in 2025 we will still have non-hybrid platforms – Jimny, Ignis will still be for sale, Swift Sport will still be for sale – so there will be a transition period.”

Capping this embrace of electrification will be the flagship battery electric vehicle, most likely a production version of the Suzuki eVX concept revealed at the Japan Mobility Show last October (pictured top).

“We start our electrification [BEV] journey in 2025,” confirmed Pachota.

“We will have an electric vehicle announcement next year,” he added. “We are aiming for sale [in 2025] … would love it.”

But Pachota admitted the BEV would not be the sales force in this roll-out of electrified vehicles. It will be the flagship and most expensive model in the line-up with a price-tag potentially in the $50,000 bracket rather than competing with Chinese electric SUVs that are priced as low as $39,990 drive-away in the case of the MG ZS EV.

“I can see it being a percentage of sales but a small one,” Pachota said. “I think some of the Chinese brands are more aggressive in that [pricing] space.

“But with that said we have always been known as a good value proposition and we are not far away with the reliability and credibility we have had as a brand.”

Pachota acknowledged the importance of the NVES CO2 reduction scheme in Suzuki Australia’s swing toward hybrids. But he emphasised the desire to go hybrid had been in-place for years.

“We’ve had hybrid technology from a global perspective for over a decade and … it’s something that has been on my radar since 2017 when I started as general manager of the company.

“It was one of the first things I asked the company: “When can I get a hybrid?”

“When the NVES decision came though this suited Australia. It was great.”