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Suzuki · 1988–present

Suzuki Vitara

Suzuki Vitara
Photo: Vauxford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source ↗

The Suzuki Vitara is a series of SUVs produced by Suzuki in five generations since 1988. The second and third generation were known as the Suzuki Grand Vitara, while the fourth generation eschewed the "Grand" prefix. In Japan and a number of other markets, all generations have used the name Suzuki Escudo (Japanese: スズキ・エスクード, Hepburn: Suzuki Esukūdo) until 2024. The choice of the name "Vitara" was inspired by the Latin word vita, as in the English word vitality. "Escudo", the name primarily used in the Japanese market, refers to the "escudo", the monetary unit of Portugal before adoption of the Euro. The original series was designed to fill the slot above the Suzuki Jimny. The first generation was known as Suzuki Sidekick in the United States. The North American version was produced as a joint venture between Suzuki and General Motors known as CAMI. It was also sold as the Santana 300 and 350 in Spain and in the Japanese market, and in select markets was rebadged as the Mazda Proceed Levante as well. The second generation was launched in 1998 under the "Grand Vitara" badge in most markets. It was accompanied by a still larger SUV known as the Suzuki XL-7 (known as Grand Escudo in Japan). The third generation was launched in 2005. The fourth generation, released in 2015, reverted to the original name "Vitara" in most markets, but shifted from an off-road SUV towards a more road-oriented crossover style. It shares the platform and many components with the slightly larger SX4 S-Cross. The model introduced in 2022 for the Indian market only reuses the "Grand Vitara" nameplate. It is slightly larger than the SX4 S-Cross.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UK certified builds1022012–2026
Power (UK)74–170 hp
CO₂ (UK, WLTP/NEDC)106–142 g/km
Combined MPG (UK)44.8–70.6
Engine size998–1,598 cc
On UK roads87,8462025 Q4

UK fuel mix: —. Records from the VCA fuel & emissions archive.

Model years

Generations & variants

Photos

UK vehicles on the road

82,151 licensed and 5,695 SORN (87,846 total) at 2025 Q4.

Year (latest quarter)Vehicles
201411,246
201516,023
201626,337
201737,014
201848,261
201960,488
202064,574
202170,257
202276,342
202381,819
202485,261
202587,846

DfT/DVLA VEH0120 vehicle licensing statistics, source ↗, Open Government Licence v3.0. Small counts are rounded or suppressed at source.

Sources

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