The trusted voice of the industry
for more than 30 years

Suzuki release Vitara SE

Posted on 25 August, 2017
Suzuki release Vitara SE

Suzuki have presented the latest addition of their flagship small SUV, the Virata SE. “We wanted to develop a compelling offer at the sub-$30,000 price point,” said Gary Collins, General Manager of Marketing for Suzuki New Zealand. The announcement of the new model follows strong sales for Suzuki, with the brand holding 7.2 per cent of the new passenger car market in New Zealand and ranking fourth best make for the January to July 2017 period compared with 5.6 per cent and eight best make for the 2016 calendar year. The SE comes with a six-stage automatic transmission as standard and sits mid-way between the JLX level and direct injection Turbo performance versions of the Vitara in terms of performance. The SE also comes with a raft of extra design features including black daytime running lamp bezels black body side mouldings, a rear upper spoiler and a range of new colours. The Vitara SE is a money saver for owners, Suzuki says. The company notes a recent independent Australian survey run by the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland awarded the 1.6 Vitara the lowest annual running costs in the small Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) class. The latest generation Vitara is a top seller in its class, capturing 14.8 percent of the segment in New Zealand during 2016. In the first seven months of this year the Vitara has attracted 955 sales and, with just under 22 per cent of the brand’s total volume, is the second most popular Suzuki model. The SE comes with all of the safety features standard to the Vitara including seven airbags, a brake override system and ESP electronic stability.  The 1.6 litre four cylinder engine produces 86kW of power while the auto transmission has an expanded lockup range. Suzuki say that the model is arriving in dealerships now and the roll-out will be completed over the next few days.