If A Suzuki Grand Vitara Gets A Facelift, Does Anyone Care?

by Derek Kreindler

July 13th, 2012 11:53 AM

if a suzuki grand vitara gets a facelift does anyone care

The Suzuki Grand Vitara was the second worst-selling small SUV in America last month, with 419 sold. The only competitor that fared worse was the now-dead Mazda Tribute, which sold 1 unit (ostensibly a remainder car).

It’s not often that one hears about a facelift for a vehicle that they totally forgot was even on sale, but for 2013, the Suzuki Grand Vitara will be getting a revised look.

The worst part about it is that the Grand Vitara doesn’t look half bad. A look at the spec sheet reveals a $19,649 RWD manual version(!) in addition to the usual 4WD. Too bad for Suzuki that there’s just so many good cars worthy of consumer dollars out there, compelling reasons for buying a Grand Vitara don’t really exist.

P.S. Can anyone answer what the purpose of the fender mirror is?

#Crossover #JapaneseCar #JDM #SUV #Suzuki #SuzukiEscudo #SuzukiGrandVitara

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Geeman77 on Jul 13, 2012

The Suzuki dealer in our town merged with the Saab dealer, which was previously a Saab / Saturn dealership. Talk about bad karma...

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Skotastic on Jul 14, 2012

gslippy said: "Suzuki needs to leave the US market (along with Mitsubishi), and enjoy their unparalleled success in India." I'd like to know...why???? Why should they leave or quit because they are at the bottom of the sales chart? Are we playing Highlander 'There can only be one!'. As consumers WE ONLY benefit from competition, choice, options, variety etc. I hope they stay, I hope FIAT does well, I hope Mazda survives, I hope we get Alfa or Peugeot back, and so on. For those hoping for the death of Suzuki in N.America, the logical endgame of that thought process is all new cars will be either GM or Toyota - or perhaps a merger of the two - what a bright future for automotive enthusiasts to wish for!

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- SCE to AUX on Jul 14, 2012
  
  I'm not saying they build bad cars, nor am I against competition. Suzuki and Mitsubishi must be close to losing money in the US market, to the point where they can no longer afford to support their customers through a viable dealer network, and provide a nice pipeline of competitive products. Mazda is flirting with the same fate. Consider why the hundreds of car mfrs in the US in the early 20th century all disappeared, leaving us with a handful of fairly strong players. Really, how many small SUVs does the market need? Does Suzuki offer anything distinctive which buyers simply must have? Even the cool Kizashi can't get traction due to Suzuki's tiny market presence.
  
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Don1967 on Jul 14, 2012

The fender mirror might be for towing. The little 'Zuke has an unusually high (for a North American four-banger) towing capacity of 3,000 pounds. That, plus its rugged construction probably makes it the most underrated "cute ute" on the market. Think XTerra Lite and you get the idea.

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Johnxyz on Jul 14, 2012

At one time I was looking at a Grand Vitara, Kia Borrego and a Mitsu Montero LTD thinking I could buy'em at fire sale prices. Borrego and Montero are long gone... Can't recall why I never followed thru on any of these models...

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