Automotive News Europe — 2024-07-03
Automotive Industry
Suzuki will not add a performance version of its new range-topping Swift small car.
Suzuki is axing a number of combustion-engine models in its European range to help lower its average CO2 emissions and prepare for the launch of its first full-electric car in 2025.
The automaker will stop sales of the Ignis minicar, the Swace hybrid compact wagon and the Jimny small commercial SUV by early 2025, the company said.
Suzuki also said it would not develop a performance Sport version of its new Swift small car, traditionally the model’s range-topper.
The company expects its car sales to fall 19% across Europe this year to 191,000, down from 236,000 in 2023, the company said in a financial presentation in May 2024.
The end of sales for the affected models will be earlier in the UK, Suzuki’s second biggest European market, due to the tougher emissions requirements there, a spokesperson for the brand said.
‘‘The departure of these models will make room for EV and enable us to compete during a period where our sales ratio of hybrid versus EV products will drive our business,” Dale Wyatt, head of Suzuki in the UK, said in a statement.
Ahead of its EV launch, Suzuki will focus on sales of the Swift, S-Cross and Vitara small SUVs, and the Across plug-in hybrid, a rebadged version of the Toyota RAV4 midsize SUV.
The Ignis was Suzuki’s fourth-best selling model in the first five months in Europe with 16,111 units sold, preliminary sales figures from market researcher Dataforce show. The Vitara was top followed by the S-Cross and new Swift. The Swace was the slowest selling model after the Across.
The Ignis was the second most popular Suzuki in Italy, the automaker’s biggest European market, with sales of 4,647, behind the Vitara.
Suzuki has struggled to cut average CO2 emissions in response to increasingly tough emissions standards.
The company offers mild-hybrid or full-hybrid drivetrains across its range; however, the technology will not be enough to lower CO2 fast enough to meet more stringent average requirements coming into force in 2025 in the European Union.
Suzuki pools with Toyota, Mazda and Subaru in the European Union and the UK, meaning those companies have to reduce the average CO2 of their combined sales.
Suzuki’s first EV will arrive in Europe “later” in 2025, the company said without giving details.
Suzuki last year unveiled the eVX electric SUV concept saying it was due for global release in 2025. The concept was reported to have a 60-kilowatt hour battery pack that would give a range of 550 km (342 miles).
The eVX was revealed in India, Suzuki’s biggest global market. Suzuki has said it will spend more than 104 bn rupees ($1.3 billion) on its electrification push in India, including a battery plant for EVs starting 2026, making it one of its biggest battery and electric vehicle investments globally.
Suzuki Motor President Toshihiro Suzuki also said the automaker plans to learn about technologies for smaller EVs from partner Toyota. Toyota has 4.89% stake in Suzuki and currently builds the outgoing Swace wagon at its plant in Burnaston, England for Suzuki, as well as the Across in Japan.
Suzuki builds the Vitara and S-Cross in Hungary. The factory last year built 156,000 models, of which Suzuki said 88% were hybrid models. The company said in the May 2024 financial presentation it expects Hungary production to drop 30% to 109,000 in 2024, without giving a reason.
The drop suggests Suzuki will also have to shrink sales of its two SUVs in order to achieve CO2 targets ahead of EV sales.
Suzuki said in its May 2024 presentation it plans to launch five electric models in Europe by 2030.