- Vitara hybrid already being phased out - no more AWD models available.
- Next year's e Vitara will carry on the name, but in a very different car.
- Suzuki NZ hopes S-Cross will pick up Vitara hybrid's sales mantle.
Suzuki New Zealand will farewell the combustion-engined Vitara SUV early next year, when it introduces the all-new e Vitara - the brand's first pure-electric model.
So while the Vitara name will continue in NZ with the plug-in model (a co-development with Toyota's Urban Cruiser), it's very much the end of an era for the combustion version, which remains a strong seller in NZ: year-to-date it's the brand's number-3 model with 273 sales, behind Swift (914) and Jimny (463).
The petrol Vitara does continue globally alongside e-Vitara, with a facelift on the way, but Suzuki NZ says its marketing efforts will be better spent on the sister S-Cross from next year. It's already run out of current-shape Vitara AWD models.
"We’ve had to make a decision about where we see ourselves moving forward with Vitara," says Gary Collins, chief executive of Suzuki NZ. "We have stock of the 2WD to run through to e-Vitara; at that stage there's a facelift that occurs to Vitara, but within that update it basically moves to exactly where we are with S-Cross pricing.
"In our opinion, S-Cross is the higher-equipped, more modern vehicle. We think that when they overlap at the same price point, it’s hard to warrant having both. So our decision is that we’re carrying on with S-Cross.”
S-Cross is based on the same platform as Vitara, but is a little larger and a little less SUV-like in styling. The Kiwi model is currently being updated to Australian specification, with a cleaner Euro 6d engine tune (power goes down slightly), with a few specification upgrades including indicators on the right, automatic high-beam lights, lane keep assist and traffic sign recognition.
The price of the 2WD has gone up $1000 to $43,990, while the AWD stays at $45,990.
S-Cross hasn't been pulling its weight sales-wise this year, with just 92 registrations - 5th for the brand and way behind the aging Ignis mini-SUV (256), which is set to continue well into 2026.
“We would have liked to give S-Cross more exposure over recent months," says Collins, "but the priority ha been on promotion of other models such as Vitara. There are certainly more volume opportunities from S-Cross than we are curently achieving."
Suzuki NZ is yet to reveal specification detail of the forthcoming e-Vitara, which is set for launch in March 2026. It'll be the brand's third model sourced from India (following Jimny 5dr and Fronx), and is available from the factory with either 49kWh or 61kWh battery packs.
It's produced in front-drive with either 106kW or 128kW, but the top version has dual-motor AWD with 135kW/300Nm, and an EV version of AllGrip with selectable drive modes. The e-axle technology is shared with Toyota.
At 4275mm in length the e Vitara is still very compact, just 100mm longer than the petrol Vitara - and 125mm shorter than an S-Cross.