By Ostile Kadiege

We recently attended the virtual launch of the much anticipated Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Slotted in between the Suzuki Vitara and Suzuki Ignis, the best-selling and car of the year award winning compact SUV in India is ready to fight its more established rivals in South Africa.

Exterior design

The Vitara Brezza has a wide and tall stance with sporty touches. A large horizontal chrome bar up front is surrounded by LED headlights with L-shaped DRLs on the GLX model. Suzuki’s signature SUV U-shaped design on the lower front bumper is flanked by round fog lamps on the GLX.

Contrasting side skirts, cladding around the wheel arches, roof rails and 198 mm ground clearance accentuates the Vitara Brezza’s leisure readiness. Another chrome bar with Vitara Brezza lettering is found at the centre of the tailgate. It’s flanked by LED taillights, which are standard across the range.

A choice of 7 solid colours/colour combinations are available including Dignity Brown Metallic and Stargaze Blue.

Interior design and technology

The cabin looks solid and well-built. The GL and GLX derivatives are fitted with fabric seats. Standard across the range is a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth connectivity. Both GL and GLX get multifunctional steering wheels and the latter gets push start/stop button. The centre console features 12 V socket, an auxiliary slot and a USB port.

There are plenty of storage facilities including two glove boxes (upper one is cooled) and multiple cup holders. It has a decent 328-litres of luggage capacity and the foldable rear seats are 60:40 split.

Engine line-up

There is only a single 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine producing 77 kW of power and 136 Nm of torque in the GL and GLX models. Both are mated to either a 5-speed manual transmission or 4-speed automatic transmission. Fuel consumption is rated at a claimed 6.2-litre/100 km.

Pricing and warranty

Pricing for the new Suzuki Vitara Brezza is as follows:

> Vitara Brezza 1.5 GL MT – R244,900

> Vitara Brezza 1.5 GL AT – R264,900

> Vitara Brezza 1.5 GLX MT – R289,900

> Vitara Brezza 1.5 GLX AT – R309,900

All Vitara Brezzas come standard with 4 year 60,000 km and the promotional 5 year 200,000 km warranty.

The Vitara Brezza goes up against some established rivals like the aging Ford Ecosport, the new Hyundai Venue and popular Volkswagen T-Cross.