Hybrid Suzuki Vitara - no Automatic available

maisie_cat

I bought a Suzuki Vitara new last year and could not get a 1.4 allgrip automatic even then.  I ended up with manual instead but 7000 miles and a year down the line I really do not like the it, however, I cannot justify selling a year old car.

Goudy

The SZ5 Swift has gone for a burton too. As has it's auto and 4x4 options.
Looks like the only Suzuki's with two pedals are the S-Cross SZ5 and the Ignis SZ-T with it's automated manual.

50Twuncle

AdrianC said:

50Twuncle said:

This has now been confirmed by HonestJohn !!

Frankly, I'd even double-check today's date if I was relying on "confirmed by HonestJohn" - and that's having met him and driven him around central London.

A quick look at Suzuki UK's website shows that some specs of Vitara do have an autobox available.
https://cars.suzuki.co.uk/new-cars/vitara/sz-t/?Transmission=Automatic

I don't see why Hybrid Cars cannot be Automatics

They can be.
Proper hybrids (rather than merely "mild" hybrids) have to be.

but if this happens to more brands - it will have a detrimental effect on those of us who drive automatics through need rather than choice !

Have you considered that the reason they may have been dropped is simply that nobody was buying them?

All manufacturers are reducing the ranges available, because every single tangible drivetrain option or option that results in a significant weight difference has to be fully RDE emission/economy tested. So they're dropping the ones they don't think people want to buy.

If one manufacturer doesn't offer a car you want to buy, buy a different car from somebody else. Or buy used. Or keep your existing car. Or compromise on your requirements and preferences.

Remember - an automatic-only licence and/or an inability to use a clutch pedal doesn't mean you HAVE to have an old-fashioned, inefficient torque-converter box. It just means you can't drive a car with a clutch pedal, whether that be physically or legally.

Only a geek would say "I refuse to buy a car with <that> type of transmission, even though it has lower CO2 figures and/or price. I insist on <that> type", when to all intents and purposes they are functionally identical in operation to a layman. To insist that manufacturers retain them in production just to suit you would be perverse in the extreme.

That's not the same as saying "I believe the reputation for reliability of that particular design means it's best avoided", of course.

Your link to "automatic Vitaras" is not valid any longer - that's the old (pre-hybrid) model - 12 months old !

AdrianC

50Twuncle said:

AdrianC said:

A quick look at Suzuki UK's website shows that some specs of Vitara do have an autobox available.
https://cars.suzuki.co.uk/new-cars/vitara/sz-t/?Transmission=Automatic

Your link to "automatic Vitaras" is not valid any longer - that's the old (pre-hybrid) model - 12 months old !

Tell Suzuki UK, because that's their website...

Not all the current Vitara range is hybrid.

treeroy

If suzuki don't sell a model you like then buy from a manufacturer that does sell a car you like. Geez. not rocket science.

DoaM

AdrianC said:

50Twuncle said:

AdrianC said:

A quick look at Suzuki UK's website shows that some specs of Vitara do have an autobox available.
https://cars.suzuki.co.uk/new-cars/vitara/sz-t/?Transmission=Automatic

Your link to "automatic Vitaras" is not valid any longer - that's the old (pre-hybrid) model - 12 months old !

Tell Suzuki UK, because that's their website...

Not all the current Vitara range is hybrid.

Which is the telling point ... this thread is about Hybrid Suzukis.

Mercdriver

treeroy said:

If suzuki don't sell a model you like then buy from a manufacturer that does sell a car you like. Geez. not rocket science.

This poster is someone who likes Suzuki.  He has said so quite a few times in the past.  He is expressing his shock and disappointment about the lack of automatic hybrids, especially as most hybrids are autos.  Why is he not allowed to express this?

50Twuncle

Mercdriver said:

treeroy said:

If suzuki don't sell a model you like then buy from a manufacturer that does sell a car you like. Geez. not rocket science.

This poster is someone who likes Suzuki.  He has said so quite a few times in the past.  He is expressing his shock and disappointment about the lack of automatic hybrids, especially as most hybrids are autos.  Why is he not allowed to express this?

Exactly - thank you !

AdrianC

Mercdriver said:
Why is he not allowed to express this?

Whoever said he wasn't?

The only people worth expressing it to are Suzuki GB, of course, but I think we can guess what their reply will be.

Somehow, I doubt it'll be "Oooh, we never thought of that! What a good idea! We'll get some on the next boat from Japan! Have a free one in gratitude.", which is what Twuncle seems to expect.

So it's fairly straightforward choice...
1. Buy a non-hybrid auto Vitara
2. Buy a manual hybrid Vitara
3. Buy something auto hybrid from somebody else
4. Don't buy a new car
Pick one.

Ditzy_Mitzy

Doesn't this make a sort of sense?  I've always been puzzled by the fact that manufacturers haven't tried to go beyond the traditional torque converter automatic gearbox for hybrid cars.  A hybrid is supposed to be an eco-option, thus equipping it with the least efficient type of gearbox seems counter intuitive.  A normal manual gearbox is, by contrast, an extremely efficient means of transferring power to the wheels.  I know that full hybrid technology relies, in part, on the presence of the torque converter - but surely it's time to look at alternatives?  It sounds like Suzuki are trying to do so, which is good news for those like me who don't want an automatic.
Sorry to hear that it's not what the OP wants, but it seems to me like the new generation of manual hybrids represent something of an advance on the old automatic ones.