Suzuki Grand Vitara History
The grown-up successor to the Sidekick — Suzuki's mainstay compact SUV in the US for 14 years, the last Suzuki SUV sold in America.
Photo: “2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara 16V Sport Automatic 1.6 Front.jpg” by Vauxford / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
History
For 1999, Suzuki retired the Sidekick name in the US and introduced the second-generation car as the Grand Vitara — a more substantial, more car-like compact SUV positioned against the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. A V6 option arrived alongside the standard four-cylinder.
A comprehensive third-generation redesign arrived for 2006, moving to unibody construction and adding a 166-hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder as the primary engine. The 2013 Grand Vitara was the last Suzuki SUV sold in the United States, and one of the final Suzukis of any kind offered before the brand's US exit that year.
Generations
Second generation · Grand Vitara (second gen)
Photo: “2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara 16V Sport Automatic 1.6 Front.jpg” by Vauxford / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
The original Grand Vitara — body-on-frame, available V6, more refined than the Sidekick.
2000 Photo: “2000 Suzuki Grand Vitara JLX.jpg” by DestinationFearFan / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
2002 Photo: “2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara 16V Sport Automatic 1.6 Front.jpg” by Vauxford / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
2003 Photo: “2003 Suzuki Grand Vitara 4WD, front left, 03-24-2023.jpg” by MercurySable99 / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
2005 Photo: “2005 Suzuki Grand Vitara (SQ420 S4) hardtop (22715545943).jpg” by Jeremy from Sydney, Australia / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Third generation · Grand Vitara (third gen)
Photo: “2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara XSport in Silky Silver Metallic, front left, 06-13-2026.jpg” by Cutlass / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0
Unibody construction, 2.4-liter inline-four; the last Suzuki SUV sold in the US.
2007 Photo: “2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara XSport in Silky Silver Metallic, front left, 06-13-2026.jpg” by Cutlass / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0
2008 Photo: “2008 Suzuki Grand Vitara, Kuta.jpg” by Alex Neman / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
2010 Photo: “2010 Suzuki Grand Vitara (JB MY09) Urban 5-door wagon (2010-10-16).jpg” by OSX / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain
2012 Photo: “2012 Suzuki Grand Vitara (JB MY13) Urban 5-door wagon (2012-10-26).jpg” by OSX / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain
Body styles
- 4-door SUV
Related models
Collect the nameplate
Find a scale model of the Suzuki Grand Vitara
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