Suzuki hybrid cars coming to Australia

Suzuki Australia plans to roll out a new range of fuel-efficient hybrid cars by 2025 in order to help meet voluntary new-vehicle emissions standards.

The Japanese car brand offers a range of hybrid vehicles – primarily lower-voltage mild-hybrids, but some are Toyota-style 'full' hybrids – in overseas markets, however none have made their way to Suzuki Australia showrooms to date.

That will change by 2025, as Suzuki Australia plans to use hybrid technology to meet voluntary emissions standards set by the car industry's chief body, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) – five years ahead of schedule.

"We've given ourselves our own target to try to meet the FCAI CO2 standards – they've set goals for 2030, and each year that [CO2 emissions standard] keeps going up. We want to be on that train by 2025," Michael Pachota, general manager of Suzuki Australia (the distributor for all regions except Queensland), told Drive this week.

When asked if Suzuki would need to introduce hybrid technology to Australia to achieve its goal, Pachota said: "We would need to, to meet those targets."

In Europe, Suzuki sells mild-hybrid versions of the Ignis and Swift city cars (including the Swift Sport hot hatch), and Vitara and S-Cross small SUVs – in addition to Toyota-like 'full hybrid' versions of the Vitara and S-Cross.

The next-generation Swift is expected to double down on hybridisation, when it launches overseas in the next 12 to 18 months – while a hybrid version of the sold-out Jimny four-wheel-drive is rumoured to launch in 2024.

Whereas the mild-hybrid models cannot drive the wheels on electric power – and use the electric motor to reduce load on the petrol engine – the full hybrid SUVs can, and save more fuel as a result.

Suzuki also sells rebranded versions of the Toyota Corolla hybrid wagon and Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid in Europe, as the Swace and Across – but neither is currently sold in Australia, nor is expected to in the future.

The 2030 emissions targets – which are voluntary, and not yet enforced by governments – call for average CO2 emissions from passenger cars and 'light-duty' SUVs of less than 100 grams of CO2 per kilometre, and 145g/km for 'heavy-duty' 4WDs, utes and vans, compared to 2021 targets.

For 2021, Suzuki's specific emissions targets – weighted according to its sales volume – were 116g/km for cars and small SUVs, or 125g/km for 4WDs (which only applies to the Jimny).

It failed to meet both of these voluntary targets last year, coming in 8 per cent above its passenger-car target, and 22 per cent above the Jimny's 4WD target.

No vehicle currently sold by Suzuki in Australia meets these targets – though the Jimny manual gets closest, at 146g/km, followed by the manual 1.2-litre Swift, at 106g/km.

It's unclear which of Suzuki's vehicles would be first to introduce hybrid technology in Australia – however if current-generation models don't receive it, next-generation ones are likely to, such as the new Swift (below, due in Japan this year or next) and the next Vitara, expected in 2023 or 2024.

"The next three to four years are going to be quite big for Suzuki in terms of, number one, our growth," Pachota told Drive.

"As I mentioned today [at the launch of the new S-Cross], we're going to have a record sales year for our [current] fiscal year – the Japanese calendar year, from March [2022] to March [2023] – which would be the highest sales result that we've ever achieved in Australian history.

Pachota continued, "to [meet the emissions targets], the next three to four years needs to be pretty big for us in terms of what models we have to offer and what kind of volumes we expect to do."

Details of the next Swift's hybrid system are unclear, however in New Zealand the current car is available with a mild-hybrid system that claims to cut fuel consumption by about 10 to 15 per cent (in lab testing), and CO2 emissions by the same amount.