The Suzuki Ertiga joins the ever expanding list of made-In-India cars to be imported as CBUs into South Africa. Though there is no official announcement from Maruti regarding the export, India is the only country to manufacture the Ertiga and has even been shipping CKD units of the compact MPV to Indonesia since last year, and exporting LHD variants to Algeria.
The 7-seat MPV is the second made-in-India product in Suzuki SA's portfolio, the first one being the older Alto (A-Star). The South Africa-spec Ertiga is available only with the 1.4-litre K-Series petrol engine which puts out 95 PS and 130 Nm of torque. The transmissions options are a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic unit. The official South African website of the automaker claims that the MPV delivers fuel economy of 15.5 km/l irrespective of the gearbox type.
The Ertiga is offered in GA, GL and GLX variants with the last two offering AT option. Standard features include ABS, EBD and dual front airbags. The top end GLX gets alloy wheels, music system with USB connectivity, multi-function steering wheel, power windows, foglamps and central locking.
The Suzuki Ertiga GA is priced at R 159,000 (around INR 8.86 lakhs), the GL MT and AT retail for R 179,900 (around INR 9.97 lakhs) and R 194,900 (around INR 10.80 lakhs) respectively while the GLX MT and AT would set you back by R 192,900 (around INR 10.69 lakhs) and R 207,900 (around INR 11.52 lakhs) respectively. The vehicle is offered with warranty of 4 years/60,000 km
Honda India is already shipping the Brio and Amaze to SA. So if everything goes well for the Ertiga, we can expect Honda SA to import the Mobilio, either from India or Indonesia, to challenge the Swift-based MPV.
Suzuki Ertiga launched in South Africa - Press Release
[Head to Slideshare if you can't see the press release here]