The fourth-gen Vitara abandoned nearly three decades of truck-based design in one stroke — swapping its body-on-frame layout for a lightweight unibody shared with the SX4 S-Cross.
Median 235 hp across 713 similar cars
Lead trim: Vitara 1.4 K14D mild hybrid automatic (109 hp) · up to 127 hp
Suzuki Vitara LYLY · 2015–present
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Suzuki Vitara LY yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe fourth-gen Vitara abandoned nearly three decades of truck-based design in one stroke — swapping its body-on-frame layout for a lightweight unibody shared with the SX4 S-Cross.
The fourth-generation Suzuki Vitara (model code LY, sold in Japan as the Escudo from 15 October 2015 to 2024) was shown as the iV-4 concept at the 65th IAA Frankfurt show in September 2013 and unveiled at the 2014 Paris Motor Show, with production by Magyar Suzuki in Esztergom, Hungary starting in March 2015 (and by Changan Suzuki in Chongqing from 2015 to 2018). Unlike previous generations it swapped the traditional ladder frame for a lightweight unibody platform shared with the SX4 S-Cross and moved from a longitudinal rear/all-wheel-drive layout to a transverse front/all-wheel-drive one, making it a subcompact crossover SUV with a 140 mm shorter wheelbase, 325 mm shorter body, 85 mm lower and 35 mm narrower than the previous Grand Vitara; luggage space is 375 litres, 710 litres with the rear seats folded. Engines are a 1.6-litre M16A petrol (5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic), a 1.6-litre Fiat-sourced DDiS diesel (6-speed manual, or the TCSS twin-clutch automated manual with AWD from April 2016), the 1.0-litre K10C Boosterjet that replaced the M16A in Europe at the 2018 facelift, and from March 2020 the 1.4-litre K14D Boosterjet with a 48 V mild hybrid (129 PS and 235 N·m, the belt-driven ISG adding 14 PS and 53 N·m); a 140 V full hybrid with the 1.5-litre K15C Dualjet and an AGS automated manual arrived in January 2022 in Europe and April 2022 in Japan (the battery in the boot cuts luggage space to 289 litres) and left Japan in April 2024. The 2018 Paris facelift added millimetre-wave radar and Suzuki Safety Support, another facelift came in April 2024, and the sporty 1.4 Boosterjet Vitara S is catalogued as its own generation. Special editions include the Chinese Star Edition (2018), the Italian Vitara Katana (November 2019, 100-unit Austrian version in September 2020) and the Japanese Escudo S Limited (November 2020).
Collectors Spotted in the Suzuki Vitara Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Suzuki Vitara yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitara 1.0 K10C Boosterjet turbo (110 hp) | 2018–2020 | 1.0 L Inline-3 | 110 hp | 118 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Vitara 1.4 K14D Boosterjet 48 V mild hybrid (127 hp) | 2018–present | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 127 hp | 173 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Vitara 1.4 K14D mild hybrid automatic (109 hp) | 2025–present | 1.4 L Inline-4 | 109 hp | 173 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Vitara 1.5 K15C Dualjet full hybrid (Escudo HEV) | 2022–2026 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 115 hp | 173 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Vitara 1.6 DDiS D16A diesel (118 hp) | 2015–2018 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 118 hp | 236 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Vitara 1.6 M16A VVT (118 hp) | 2015–2025 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 118 hp | 115 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
This Vitara abandoned decades of off-roader DNA in one generation: it swapped its ladder-frame, longitudinal-drive layout for a unibody, transverse-engine crossover platform.
The fourth-gen Vitara abandoned nearly three decades of truck-based design in one stroke — swapping its body-on-frame layout for a lightweight unibody shared with the SX4 S-Cross.
By its final US model year, this Grand Vitara had nearly vanished from showrooms — just 4,860 found American buyers in 2004, even though sales stayed strong across the border in Canada.
The original Vitara was such a hit in Italy it exploited a loophole letting off-roaders dodge import quotas — until Italy rewrote the rules within a year, requiring a differential lock the Vitara didn't have.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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