Suzuki Motor Europe claims its new SX4 S-Cross now sets the standard in the C Crossover segment. Glenn Brooks drives it, and uncovers details of some future Suzukis.
Would you believe this is the largest model Suzuki has ever made? This is but one of the claims the UK importer made this week while revealing this new vehicle to the media ahead of its local dealer launch. The SX4 S-Cross, which is due to be in British showrooms from 1 October, is a size up from the existing SX4, measuring 4,300mm from bumper to bumper. Width is 1,765mm and height is 1,575mm, while the wheelbase is 2,600mm.
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If you look closely at the photos you will notice there are no model name badges on the car – just the make on the left, and on 4WD variants, a label on the lower right-hand side. That’s because the vehicles at the media preview were the first batch of RHD cars off the line from Magyar Suzuki’s Esztergom factory. When production began in mid-August, the decision to call this ‘SX4 S-Cross’ had been taken – after lots of discussion – but the final-spec badges presumably hadn’t been delivered to the plant.
Suzuki Motor Europe’s main markets liked the idea of linking to the SX4 but had been concerned that this could cause confusion with some potential buyers. After all, the new model is 165mm longer and looks completely different to the almost eight year old hatchback that will be built in Hungary alongside the S-Cross for a further six to eight months. The SX4 badge on the new model will be smaller and sit above the S-Cross name. The plan is to delete the prefix at some stage, in European markets, at least.
Challenging the Qashqai is a big task – the model that just about invented the segment that it dominates is selling better than ever, even after seven years. Suzuki will manufacture the S-Cross in Japan and China as well as in Hungary but the plan is to build just 30,000 units per annum at Esztergom. Of that total, the UK should take up to 6,000 in 2014 and an average of 5,000 a year over the vehicle’s lifecycle. The importer hopes that the new model will help it crack the fleet market, which also includes contract hire and Motability sales but not daily rental. As the Qashqai did around 40,000 sales here last year, I don’t think the sales target for the S-Cross is an unrealistic one.
Britain is Suzuki’s largest market in a European region which also includes Russia. For the year to the end of August, the SMMT numbers I have just examined showed 20,150 registrations, which is more than either Mazda or Volvo. In August, Suzuki sold 1,291 vehicles (+36%) compared to SEAT’s 1,289 (+14%) which is equally impressive but even more amazingly, Suzuki registrations lagged those for Mini by just 124 cars and were only 163 short of Honda’s total.
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By GlobalDataAugust can be an odd month coming as it does just before the registration plate change but however you slice the numbers, the three goals for 2013 look realistic: sell 33% more vehicles, lift market share by 0.3%, and sell 33,000 vehicles (all versus 2012).
I published some information about the brand’s future model plans only last month but now I have more. Next year’s A segment model will reach the UK in the second half of the year and this will be the replacement for our Alto. This is also the car which Suzuki will build at its third Thai plant. Likely debut? I suggested the Bangkok motor show and was told that could well be the case.
Following on from the arrival of the little A segment hatchback, the next new car for Suzuki Motor Europe will be a Juke challenger. The iV-4 concept (‘individuality’, ‘Vehicle’, ‘4 wheel drive’) at the Frankfurt show should be a preview of its silhouette. We will see this model launched across Europe in early 2015.
A year after the new crossover comes a vehicle which has previously been referred to simply as a B segment model. Logic suggests it will be the Swift replacement but this is not the case. Does that mean Suzuki is moving away from its traditional four to six year lifecycles? No, I was told, the Swift will indeed be six years old by then but this is to be an additional vehicle, larger than today’s Swift: think of it as a Jazz rival. That’s understandable as the Swift is one of the smallest cars in the segment. So when will the next Swift appear? Also in 2016, but later in the year.
You may also want to know about platforms and codenames. The S-Cross was developed under the YAA project code but I am told there isn’t an official name for the vehicle’s architecture. It is new for this model, and project XA, which is the 2015 Juke rival, will have a variation of the S-Cross’ platform.
If you’re wondering about the possibility of a saloon in the C segment to use the same architecture, then you’re onto something. It won’t come to the UK but Suzuki will launch this new model in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa and Mexico during 2014/2015. Such a car was previewed by the Authentics concept which premiered at the Shanghai motor show in April. I don’t have a model name for this one as yet but it should also step in for the Kizashi when that car is discontinued some time after next year.
Getting back to the S-Cross itself, Suzuki sees this is a conquest model and here in the UK the intention is to go after family buyers. You might think the similarly sized Grand Vitara had already drawn in such people but it tends to instead be sought out by people who live in areas where a rugged off-roader can be needed in some months of the year. On that note, only about 20 percent of S-Cross sales are expected to be of the AWD versions, which carry ‘ALLGRIP’ sub-branding.
It’s worth noting that Suzuki didn’t once mention all-wheel drive in its media briefing, prefering 4WD, no doubt playing on its 4×4 vehicle heritage. And to be clear on this, there are no levers to lift in an S-Cross ALLGRIP – drive to the rear wheels will kick in automatically when conditions demand it or if you like, you can select any one of three push-button settings aside from the default, Auto. These are Sport (optmised 4WD for twisty roads), Snow (defaults to 4WD for slippery roads) or Lock (designed to get you out of sand, snow or mud – sends maximum drive to the rear axle).
What will set this new model apart from rivals in an already overcrowded segment? Suzuki’s marketing people believe ‘intenders’ are seeking these three things as their top priorities: SUV-like styling, a roomy and high quality interior and a five star rating from EuroNCAP. The crash testing won’t take place until the end of October but the company is confident it has designed a vehicle that will attain the same number of stars as the Qashqai, ASX, ix35, Sportage, 3008 and Mokka.
So why would anyone buy an S-Cross when there are already so many other choices out there? Well, the styling should appeal to most people, the boot’s volume is 430 cubic litres – 20 more than a Qashqai’s – it feels like a car to drive, the top model grade has a world first double sliding sunroof, and running costs will be low. The latter is vital for success with fleets, as Suzuki’s usual 9,000 miles have held it back in the past. For this new model, you won’t need to visit a dealer until you’ve clocked up 12,500 miles.
There is a choice of two engines and each is a 1.6 that produces 88kW/120PS. The 1,586cc petrol is Suzuki’s own M16A unit, while the 1,598cc D16AA diesel is supplied by Fiat and marketed by Suzuki as a DDiS. The manual gearbox for petrol versions has five speeds, or six if you choose DDiS power. But if you want an automatic, it’s a CVT and only available with the petrol engine.
Economy is excellent with this model and that’s no doubt down to both engine design and vehicle weight. The lightest S-Cross starts off at just 1,175kg and rises to 1,370kg for the 1.6 DDiS ALLGRIP. Combined averages start at 47.8mpg for the petrol manual with 4WD, and rise to 67.2mpg (diesel manual). The CO2 champion is the 110g/km 1.6 DDiS but adding ALLGRIP means the average dips to 114g/km or as much as 135 is you go for the 1.6 petrol CVT.
The fastest variant to 62mph is the petrol manual (11.0 seconds) and the slowest, at 13.5 seconds, is the petrol CVT. Top speed is just 102mph for the 1.6 petrol CVT but 111 for the DDiS manual.
To drive, the petrol S-Cross I tried first had a slightly stiff action when turning the steering wheel off dead centre but perhaps series production models will differ. I did like the idea of an electric roof which opens above the driver and passenger, and another one that does that same for those in the rear. The trouble is, there isn’t a lot of headroom in the back for standard sized adults. This might only be an issue on cars with the glass roof. This comes as standard for the SZ5 trim level and the media launch cars were this top model grade.
I liked the petrol engine but the diesel and six-speed manual transmission is the best combination. I can see dealers selling these variants all too easily after even a short test drive.
Prices start at GBP14,999 for the 1.6 SZ3 manual 2WD and rise to GBP23,549 for the SZ5 diesel ALLGRIP. Within the model range, three are even special SZ-T variants which have a spec that has been honed to appeal to fleet users.
