Suzuki is getting bigger. The Japanese manufacturer's reputation is mostly for smaller cars and all-wheel-drive vehicles but now its new Grand Vitara flagship XL7 comes as a seven-seater with a third row of seats. It retails at €36,495 ex-works.
There's also a five-seater at €34,995 ex works. In all, a total of 10 Grand Vitara variants are marketed here, taking in three- and five-door models in petrol and diesel, the long wheelbase XL7, manual and automatic options and commercials.
The Vitara range was originally launched on the Irish market in November 1988, but it had an inauspicious start because of the lack of diesel, according to Niall O'Gorman, general manager of Suzuki Ireland: "We started with only 30 units a year, but that went to 800 when we got diesel."
The five and seven seater Grand Vitara relies on a Peugeot-derived 1997cc 16-valve turbodiesel with common rail fuel injection.
The Irish 4x4 market was just over 11,000 units last year, accounting for 6.4 per cent of total car and light commercial vehicle sales. This compares with 6,500 units and a 3.7 per cent share five years ago. O'Gorman says that during this period, Suzuki's share of the 4x4 scene has grown from 3.8 to 7.6 per cent.
"We see the new Grand Vitara boosting our share of the 4x4 scene to 10 per cent or 1,000 vehicles with 25 to 30 per cent alone being taken by the XL7. There won't be many commercial or van type versions, less than 10 per cent."