500,000th Suzuki Vitara Rolled off in Esztergom

The model, produced in Hungary since spring 2015 and given a facelift in September 2018, has been Magyar Suzuki’s greatest success thus far and Hungarian customers’ No. 1 favorite, dominating the domestic new car market for three years now.

Source of Hungarian pride

The Vitara is the first Suzuki model ever to reach such an impressive production number in such a short period of time. Not even previous favorites such as the SX4 or the new generation Swift could reach this production volume in Hungary, although both came close to it.

The car is undeniably the unrivalled champion of the domestic car market since 2016. Vitara continued to maintain its leading position in the passenger car category in the first quarter: between January 1 and March 31, 2,255 units of this model were registered. Of the half million Vitaras produced at Magyar Suzuki, 31,658 were registered in Hungary, while the rest were exported not only to Europe but, for example, to Dominican Republic, Guatemala and even Vanuatu, an island in the southwest Pacific.

“This confirms the validity of our objective and mission, to develop products of high value by focusing on our customers’ needs. The results show that we are on the right track. One of our primary goals is to make consumers’ dreams come true through exciting and innovative products, and I think Vitara is a perfect model to achieve this,” said Yoshinobu Abe, the Managing Director of Magyar Suzuki Corporation.

Rich heritage

The model’s success is coded in its DNA. The first-generation Vitara is often called the pioneer of the SUV category. In fact, Suzuki made a successful entry to the SUV market and secured a competitive position thanks to the Vitara’s versatile off-road performance, urban car-like dimensions and consumption characteristics. Suzuki’s engineers dreamed up a vehicle that moves confidently on and off the road, both in the countryside and in the urban jungle. In addition, it was available in a variety of colors and with two polishes, even with a removable fabric top, which made it popular with younger city-dwellers.

The second generation of Vitara debuted in 1998, and as indicated by its name, the Grand Vitara sported larger dimensions and a more powerful engine, and was also better equipped. Shortly afterwards, in line with the then-recent changes of the automotive industry, the third generation was reborn in a completely renewed body with rounded shapes in 2005. We needed to wait 10 more years for the fourth generation, which debuted in 2015.  

This model was not only produced in Hungary, but Hungarian experts also participated in its development and the prototype was almost completely finalized here. In 2018, Vitara celebrated its 30th birthday with a more refined design and more advanced safety features.

The 1988 model Vitara.

The 2018 version.