Suzuki is the latest automaker to join the fray in offering its customers an electric vehicle (EV). The Japanese company has launched an electric sports utility vehicle (SUV), called the Suzuki eVX. The concept model was shown at Auto Expo 2023 – India’s premier automotive show.
The Suzuki eVX is an all-electric compact SUV that combines the brand’s 4×4 DNA with the latest technology and features. Suzuki’s internal combustion-powered 4×4, the Jimny, is a highly popular compact SUV in South Africa and abroad, so this new EV alternative is likely to be a hot seller.
Suzuki is a customer of Formex Industries; the automotive components that we manufacture are installed on current Suzuki models. Formex is a leading manufacturer and supplier of automotive components, assemblies and tubular products. We produce products for local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 suppliers.
Suzuki eVX is future-forward
The SUV eVX draws visual cues from its current line-up of cars and SUVs, but develops the design language into something futuristic but unmistakably a Suzuki. The exterior styling is distinctly “EV”, with its lack of a grille, signature running lights and full-cover hub caps that improve aerodynamic efficiency.
The eVX will carry the brand’s 4×4 legacy into the electric era. Many OEMs are shifting away from fossil fuels and towards new energy vehicles (NEVs). Some have even announced plans to become fully electric as soon as 2030. This is Suzuki’s move to grab some of the market share before it’s too late.
While the eVX will arrive in 2025 only, it will join Suzuki’s line-up of combustion and hybrid vehicles to be the brand’s first EV. South Africa is set to receive the Suzuki Grand Vitara this year, which has a hybrid drivetrain. Consumers looking for eco-friendly alternatives can opt for this model now, or wait two years for the slightly larger eVX.
Insights from Suzuki
The eVX launch at Auto Expo 2023 was attended by the president of Suzuki, Toshihiro Suzuki. “I am delighted to unveil the eVX, our first global strategic EV. At the Suzuki Group, addressing global warming is a priority. We are promoting a range of global measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he says.
“Suzuki will continue providing valuable products to our customers around the world by optimising them for the way different people live and drive,” he adds. The eVX will run off a 60kWh battery system and electric motors. It’s estimated to have a range of around 550km.
Suzuki Auto South Africa joins its global parent company in celebrating the shift to EVs, especially with the launch of a battery powered SUV, which is one of the most popular body styles in South Africa. The local brand says that it will monitor the development of the eVX and announce its feasibility for the SA market nearer to 2025.
Suzuki has been a long-standing customer of Formex Industries, so this is an exciting change for the brand. EVs are coming to South Africa at a more rapid pace in 2023, which means that automakers need to join the race sooner rather than later. For more information about our components and products, please contact us today.
Formex Industries is a metal forming and assembly company that supplies a variety of complex products to the local automotive industry and the export market. The company is based in the Nelson Mandela Bay metropole, South Africa’s foremost region for automotive manufacturing and export.
Formex is a Level 2 B-BBEE supplier. The company is owned by Deneb Investments Limited – a subsidiary of Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited (HCI) – one of South Africa’s biggest true B-BBEE companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
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