Suzuki working on three-row, hybrid SUV – report

It’s been a protracted time since Suzuki last offered a three-row SUV, but one is reportedly within the pipeline – and with hybrid power.

Autocar India reports Suzuki’s Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki is working on a brand new flagship SUV, codenamed Y17, that’s set to enter production in 2025.

It should reportedly be based on the newest Grand Vitara, making it a Grand Grand Vitara of sorts.

The Grand Vitara nameplate was recently revived and applied to a brand new vehicle, also sold because the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder; Suzuki developed the duo and Toyota produces them.

Unlike the old body-on-frame Grand Vitara, which measured 4500mm long, the brand new unibody Grand Vitara is 4345mm long – roughly the dimensions of the S-Cross.

This implies this recent Grand Vitara-based three-row SUV might be closer in size to the old Grand Vitara, but don’t expect it to be quite as rugged.

Whether it uses the identical Toyota-sourced hybrid powertrain as the brand new Grand Vitara is unclear. That model incorporates a 1.5-litre engine mated with an electrical motor and 178V battery, for a complete system output of 85kW – not exactly heady specifications for a three-row SUV.

“Sticking to our core value, we’ll offer more customers the enjoyment of mobility. If a customer wants greater SUVs, we’ll satisfy their needs,” said Maruti Suzuki India CEO Hisashi Takeuchi.

“In the event that they need a three-row vehicle, we’ll supply those cars to the Indian customers holding onto entry cars… Our SUV play will turn out to be much wider.”

Moreover, Autocar India reports it plans to introduce one other small SUV measuring under 4m long, slotting in under the Fronx.

Maruti Suzuki is the dominant force within the Indian automobile market with a greater than 40 per cent share, and likewise exports vehicles to other markets; the recently introduced Jimny XL, for instance, is produced by Maruti Suzuki.

The subsidiary desires to regain a 50 per cent share of the Indian market, which implies capturing 33 per cent of the growing SUV market there.

It’s unclear whether this recent flagship SUV might be exported to other markets like Australia.

Along with the Jimny XL, Suzuki Australia previously sourced the Baleno and Alto from India.

Suzuki currently sells a three-row model in markets like India and Indonesia, known alternately because the XL6, XL7 and Ertiga XL7, but this has a more traditional people mover shape.

It hasn’t offered a three-row SUV for a few years.

The Grand Vitara-based XL-7 was sold here from 2001 until 2006, when it ended production.

A substitute model debuted in North America in 2006, sharing its GM Theta platform with vehicles just like the Holden Captiva and earlier iterations of the Chevrolet Equinox and measuring over 5m long.

Available only with a GM-sourced 3.6-litre petrol V6, it was produced until 2009 and offered only in left-hand drive markets just like the US, Canada and the Middle East.