The Suzuki Ignis compact SUV has been given a fresh face while keeping its distinctive looking body.
With the New Zealand arrival of the 2020 facelifted five-door model has come refined styling touches front and rear plus an upgraded interior.
Launched in 2017, the high-riding hatch gains a new grille encompassing two U-shaped ports either side of the Suzuki badge. Discreet black mouldings adorn the lower edges of the prominent wheel arches and body sills, and there are new roof rails as standard.
Restyled bumpers front and rear incorporate bold silver finish inlays that clearly distinguish the facelift car. The rear bumper section includes a scalloped section at either end, helping to reduce the visual depth of the bumper.
The chunky wheel arches, angled roofline and quirky body dimensions of the current model have been retained while the subtle styling changes have given the Ignis an even more rugged look.
Inside there is revised trim detailing, and new seat upholstery with either gun metallic silver or cobalt blue accented fabric inserts, matched with door pull handles and the front storage and gear surrounds. On higher grade LTD versions, a white inlay accent is a trademark part of the dashboard.
New to the GLX model is a driver’s seat height adjuster. The relatively high body dimensions for such a compact, 3.7-metre long five-door SUV has been one of the model’s strong points.
Ignis has a ground clearance of 180mm and better comfort and visibility is afforded by the 620mm height for the front seat and 690mm rear seat height. Standard equipment on the LTD are 50:50 split folding and sliding rear seats, increasing the versatility of both the luggage space and rear passenger accommodation. Whilst the GLX features a conventional 60:40 split folding configuration, when the rear seats are folded down, the load space increases to 514 litres.
With manual transmission, the facelifted Ignis GLX manual has a recommended retail price of $19,990 while the GLX CVT with slightly higher specification is $22,990. Further upgrading to the $24,490 LTD CVT brings 16-inch diameter smoked alloy wheels, LED projector headlamps with automatic levelling and automatic light-sensing. Daytime running lamps are also part of the LTD package.
The GLX with continuously variable transmission (CVT) boasts a 7-inch infotainment screen with navigation and integrated reverse camera.
Rush Yellow metallic and Caravan Ivory Pearl metallic are two new hero colours, joining the body colour options of White Pearl, Neon Blue, Flame Orange Pearl and Fervent Red.
“The updates improve the visual appeal and styling for a car that looks like nothing else,” said Gary Collins, General Manager of Marketing for Suzuki New Zealand. “As New Zealand’s only super compact SUV, the Ignis is truly unique with its stand-out styling.
“It is also safe and strong, with an advanced lightweight platform and a body more rigid than most other similarly size vehicles,” he said.
The Ignis is also appears to be highly fuel efficient as was proved on North Island roads last year when an independent real world test resulted in an average fuel consumption of 4.34 litres/100 km (65.06 miles per gallon).
The Ignis has been the recipient of several awards, including the 2017 Car of the Year in Britain and the 2019 City Car of the Year by the UK Honest John website, and the car was voted best Compact model in Scotland. The Ignis also won a New Zealand award for its interior design.
The facelift Ignis has a comprehensive five-year warranty and five-year roadside assist package and is included in Suzuki’s No Deposit Finance scheme with weekly rental costs from $86.
DriveLife tested the outgoing version of the Ignis, you can read about it here.
