Fronx is back! Suzuki puts its popular small SUV back on the menu for NZ

Damien O’Carroll

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  • The Suzuki Fronx small SUV is back on sale following its withdrawal following a failure during crash testing.
  • The Fronx suffered a failure of a rear seatbelt retractor during ANCAP testing.
  • Suzuki has initiated a recall to replace both rear seatbelt retractors in affected cars.

Suzuki New Zealand has officially lifted the stop-sale order on the Fronx compact SUV, following a three-month hiatus caused by a critical safety failure. The vehicle, which was withdrawn from showrooms late last year, returned to sale earlier this month after the manufacturer established a factory remedy to address a seatbelt defect uncovered during independent crash testing.

The safety concern arose when the Fronx received a one-star safety rating from ANCAP. During a full-width frontal test simulating a head-on collision, a rear seatbelt retractor failed, resulting in an uncontrolled release which caused the passenger dummy to become unrestrained and strike the rear of the front seat.

Full-width frontal testing saw the left rear seatbelt retractor fail, resulting in a stop-sale order from Suzuki NZ for the Fronx.

This led NZTA Waka Kotahi to warn that such a failure in an on-road crash could result in serious injury or death, warning owners of the 1115 vehicles delivered last year to not carry passengers in the rear seats until the issue was resolved, while Suzuki temporarily withdrew the Fronx from sale under advice from Waka Kotahi.

Suzuki New Zealand has since initiated a recall to replace both the left and right rear seatbelt assemblies with completely new components, while Chief Executive Garry Collins said that private owners are being prioritised in the rollout, with the goal of having those vehicles addressed by late April.

Suzuki says the recall to fix the Fronx will prioritise private buyers initially and should only take a few hours at a Suzuki dealership.

Collins said that since the stop-sale was lifted, dealers have seen an avalanche of activity around Fronx, with more than 100 units delivered within the first week of its return to the market.

"Fronx was obviously a huge success from launch and catapulted up our sales ranking to the number two position by the end of the year," said Collins at the recent launch of Suzuki's first EV, the e Vitara, this week.

"In the compact SUV segment is an extremely busy space at the market, with many established and new entrants. We have a strong presence in the segment, particularly with the Jimny and the return of Fronx."

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