By Redação AutoIndústria | Translated by Jorge Meditsch
HPE Automotores, the owner of Suzuki vehicles production and commercialization rights in Brazil, informed last Thursday, 1/12, that it’s negotiating with the Japanese manufacturer to launch two new models in the Brazilian market.
Since mid-2022, when it stopped producing the 4×4 Jimny in Catalão, GO, HPE has been selling locally just the 3-door Jimny Sierra, imported from Japan. The brand sold nearly 1.3 thousand vehicles in the country last year – about 800 Sierra units and the remaining Jimnys, which were produced locally for nine years.
The two Suzuki potential novelties for Brazil were presented this week at India Auto Expo in New Delhi: Sierra’s 5-door version and the Fronx new sport-utility coupé. Nonetheless, HPE said in a note that the negotiations are for the “long-term” and did not mention a date.
The company, which also represents and manufactures Mitsubishi models, said to AutoIndústria that it is too soon to say if the new vehicles will be imported or should be assembled in the Goiás plant. The 5-door Sierra will be manufactured from next May, initially just for the Indian market.
Suzuki also presented at the India Auto Expo the electric eVX 4×4 concept, which shows some details of the future full-electric model to be launched globally up to 2025. According to the manufacturer, the eVX has a 60 kWh battery and a range of up to 550 kilometers.
