Hot on the heels of the new Vitara and facelifted S-Cross, Suzuki’s striking new Ignis compact crossover heralds a new wave of SUVs from the company between now and 2020.
Next on Suzuki’s list for updating are the evergreen Jimny, which has been around since the late 1990s in its current form, and the Grand Vitara, Suzuki’s current SUV flagship.
Suzuki chiefs on the international Ignis launch in Europe were tight-lipped on specific future developments but were happy to admit that the Jimny will not sit on the same new generation platform as the Ignis and the Baleno.
Nor will the new Jimny get the Ignis’ fairly simple Allgrip Auto all-wheel drive system, instead getting a more advanced Allgrip Pro set-up as befits the Jimny’s role as more of a tough, workhorse vehicle.
As for the new Grand Vitara, it will take its styling cues from the highly successful Vitara launched in 2015, possibly offering a seven-seat version at a more affordable price than the likes of the Nissan X-TRAIL.
Suzuki wouldn’t be drawn on the possibility of a more powerful version of the Ignis in the near future, although as it shares so much with the Baleno it’s impossible not to imagine an Ignis Sport utilising an uprated version of the excellent 1.0-litre three-cylinder BoosterJet turbo-petrol engine found in the Suzuki hatchback.
It might even be able to take the 1.4-litre BoosterJet found in the Vitara S-Turbo, which develops healthy numbers of 103kW/220Nm. In a car weighing significantly less than 900kg, that would make for rudely healthy performance for the Ignis, which arrives Down Under in January.