Suzuki celebrates its heritage as it looks ahead to launch of full EV

Suzuki held a special event to celebrate 55 years of four-wheel-drive motoring – and the company now has its sights firmly fixed on the next chapter in its history.

The Japanese manufacturer is fiercely proud of its heritage, and took the chance to showcase the off-road capabilities of different generations of its fleet in the challenging terrain of Monster Mountain, near Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.

A line-up of Suzuki vehicles at Monster Mountain (Image: Newsquest) For over a decade, Suzuki has offered every model in its range with the option of all-wheel-drive, with the technology more recently becoming known as ALLGRIP.

And it will take that philosophy into the next stage of its story when it launches a full EV later this year.

Like its conventionally-powered predecessors, the e Vitara will be available with AWD as Suzuki strives to combine its off-road expertise with the demands of the electric era. 

A few demonstrator e Vitaras are already on these shores and the order book has been open since June, with the range starting from £29,999.

The main bulk of the new vehicles won’t arrive in the UK until October, when the official launch is set to take place.

The new Suzuki e Vitara (Image: Suzuki) With such a pivotal date approaching, Suzuki was keen to remind the motoring media of its pedigree in producing reliable and characterful 4x4s with plenty of standard kit at an affordable price. To know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been.

With that in mind, the company assembled a selection of vehicles from across the generations, and we were invited to put them to the test. 

I took the chance to try out a couple of retro versions of the Grand Vitara – a model first launched by Suzuki in 1998.

Despite their advancing years, the robust vehicles made light work of the rough and rocky tracks on a spoil tip near an opencast coal mine.

The Grand Vitara heralded a switch to rack-and-pinion steering, providing handling with a more direct feel – something I appreciated when cornering swiftly during faster sections of the track.

After more than quarter of a century, the vehicle still provided excellent ride quality and stability on challenging surfaces.

There was a chance to drive Grand Vitaras and other vehicles from Suzuki's heritage (Image: Newsquest) And so to the big question?

Can Suzuki transfer the pillars of its past success into the future, specifically with its first foray into all-electric motoring?

The company is certainly making all the right noises about the e Vitara, stating that it will be an “authentic SUV using all of that 55 years of 4x4 heritage.

The e Vitara will be one of only three all-electric compact SUVs offering optional four-wheel-drive, continuing Suzuki’s tradition of trying to offer something a bit different from the ordinary.

In essence, it will be designed to be a simple and well-equipped car that’s easy to drive and pleasant to live with, but with that added sure-footed reassurance of AWD.

According to official figures, the most efficient version of the e Vitara will be able to do 264 miles between charges, although that reduces to 246 miles for the dual motor 4WD version. 

India is a huge market for Suzuki and, as such, the company is focusing more of its research and development in the south Asian country. 

The new e Vitara will be built exclusively in India and, interestingly, it will be the first Suzuki vehicle exported from India that’s not on domestic sale over there. 

Having never offered a full EV before, Suzuki has set about winning the battle for hearts and minds among its loyal customers. 

A big part of that will involve getting its dealerships up and down the country enthused about the vehicle they’ll be selling.

To that end, some of the early arrivals in the UK are currently being taken around the showrooms to provide a tantalising taste of the future.