Suzuki Vitara

Suzuki Vitara
Overview
Manufacturer	Suzuki
Also called	Suzuki Escudo
Production	1988–present
Body and chassis
Class	Mini SUV (1988–2005) Compact SUV (1998–2017) Subcompact crossover SUV (2015–present)
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (1988–2017) Front-engine, front-wheel-drive (2015–present) Front-engine, four-wheel-drive (1988–present)

The Suzuki Vitara is a series of SUVs produced by Suzuki in five generations since 1988. The second and third generation were known as the Suzuki Grand Vitara, while the fourth generation eschewed the "Grand" prefix. In Japan and a number of other markets, all generations have used the name Suzuki Escudo (Japanese: スズキ・エスクード, Hepburn: Suzuki Esukūdo).

The choice of the name "Vitara" was inspired by the Latin word vita, as in the English word vitality.^[1] "Escudo", the name primarily used in the Japanese Domestic Market, refers to the "escudo", the monetary unit of Portugal before adoption of the Euro. The original series was designed to fill the slot above the Suzuki Jimny. The first generation was known as Suzuki Sidekick in the United States. The North American version was produced as a joint venture between Suzuki and General Motors known as CAMI. It was also sold as the Santana 300 and 350 in Spain and in the Japanese market, and in select markets was rebadged as the Mazda Proceed Levante as well.

The second generation was launched in 1998 under the "Grand Vitara" badge in most markets. It was accompanied by a still larger SUV known as the Suzuki XL-7 (known as Grand Escudo in Japan). The third generation was launched in 2005.

The fourth generation, released in 2015, reverted to the original name "Vitara" in most markets, but shifted from an off-road SUV towards a more road-oriented crossover style. It shares the platform and many components with the slightly larger SX4 S-Cross.^[2]

The model introduced in 2022 for the Indian market only reuses the "Grand Vitara" nameplate. It is slightly larger than the SX4 S-Cross.