Suzuki makes their first serious move for volume

The SX4 Sedan is the model that will bring them out of the niche market and into the mainstream.

SMA targets 500 units sales for the rest of 2008 

Suzuki is a major Japanese automotive nameplate but like Subaru, it is decidedly a niche manufacturer with a very strong if small fan base.

Unfortunately for them, in the automotive industry BIG is beautiful, unless your name is Porsche or Ferrari.

Apart from Europe where the market heavily prefers the practicality of hatchbacks, the rest of the world is still pretty much a sedan market, especially in developing economies so it is crucial that Suzuki’s sedan can hit the sweet spot with buyers.

The Swift was the revival model that put Suzuki back on the map and the SX4 has proven to be a very popular hatchback in Europe, earning much praise and EUROS.

The Swift is too small to be turned into a sedan and the design is so unique and perfectly tailored as a hatchback that turning it into a Sedan would still leave them with a car that is too small for many markets.

The SX4, with its unique hatchback/MPV crossover architecture offers more potential, cabin space and practicality so they went on and tacked a boot to the car.

The donor hatchback won praise in many markets for tis interesting and fresh approach to practicality and now Suzuki is taking all those good qualities and have given them the added burden on becoming an attractive mass market model. This is the car that developing markets have asked for but has Suzuki interpreted their demands correctly?

Until we have had some driving time with the car, our evaluation will be based on physical inspection of the vehicle and where better to start than by dissecting the design.

Clearly the original hatchback design is more coherent and pleasing to the eyes. The tall roof and thick flanks have been translated into a sedan that looks a lot smaller than it actually is. This is all down to proportions.

Steep bonnet, tall roof and short boot; these are the proportions of a small sedan, not one that can swallow Honda Civics for breakfast. If Ning Baizura was not standing next to the car to provide perspective, most people would think that the SX4 sedan is about the size of the Proton Saga. It is way bigger than that.

Take a close look at that truncated boot. It looks like it could be small but if you remember that the SX4 is a very tall car, then you will realise that the boot is quite deep and cavernous. It is not the prettiest rear end but given the SX4’s original proportions, the engineers could not have made the boot any longer, otherwise it would simply be too big and the car too long for its class.

As it is the SX4 sedan has 515 litres of boot space, the largest in its class.

Suzuki Malaysia Automobiles, the importer and distributor of the brand is clearly excited about the prospects of the SX4 and they made clear their hopes for the car during the launch.

Managing Director, Ibrahim Maidin spared no time to tel the Press that this is the company’s most important 2008 launch and he was nto overstating things.

They know that Malaysian buyers love space and would think highly of the impressively wide and tall cabin of the SX4 sedan and also the huge boot. he knows that this is Suzuki’s best chance at capturing the Japanese make sedan market that is currently dominated by Honda and Toyota with Nissan trailing them quite far behind.

This model has a genuine chance of becoming Toyota and Honda’s party spoiler and to make sure that it is an attractive option, Suzuki is pricing this spacious 1.6-litre car at a mouth watering Rm88,888.00.

It may not be cheaper than the Toyota Vios or Honda Civic but the SX4 sedan is fully imported from Japan and it has a slightly bigger engie than the competitors, that has to count for something.

Ibrahim and Suzuki’s Japanese reps have every reason to smile, this model is a true contender to the family sedan crown this year.

The biggest and darkest cloud that hangs over the SX4 sedan is the Suzuki brand itself. It is still perceived by many as producers of small cars, compact Sports Utility Vehicles and microvans. Suzuki is not a sedan badge.

The extended video presentation at the start of the launch is an indication of Suzuki’s confidence in the brand, it played heavily on tradition and excitement that Suzuki has always stood for. Whether the Malaysian public will be convinced is quite another matter but at least they are puttign sufficient emphasis on the brand’s soul in their marketing push.

Whether the booted SX4 will get the boot or open arms is still too early to tell, especially since it is launched in the middle of one of the unpredictable global economic uncertainty which would have spooked many buyers from purchasing a new car.

The SX4 Sedan is a potential star in the local automotive market if you just look at the practical aspects of the car but as Ning Baizura and all other top singers have proven, you need to pack all that substance in an attractive packaging and here the SX4 may face a bit of a challenge. I say a bit because there is a Japanese family saloon that people used to laugh at and poke fun at for its upturned-boat look but is now sellign very well, thanks to persistent marketing and a strong brand.

Executive Advisor of Sales & marketing, Kenjiro Matsumoto focused on the practicality and ease of use of the SX4 sedan and he tied all those features to the “Way of Life” tagline that the company has adopted as a way of pitching itself as the model of choice for those who are independent minded and appreciate the SX4 versatility as it serves their own varied lifestyle.

From the front, the SX4 sedan looks like the hatchback, which in turn looks like the Swift’s bigger brother and thanks to the revised bumper and front spoiler design it is actually quite sporty and youthful.

Without driving the car, I think that the SX4 has huge potential but if this car is to really take Suzuki into the mainstream, SMA will have to locally assemble it and pitch it at nothing more than RM80,000. Then it would fly out of showrooms.