Suzuki Australia’s boss says brand loyalists are “always asking” about bigger vehicles, which could open an opportunity for the Toyota RAV4-based Across plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV.
Speaking with CarExpert, general manager for Suzuki Australia, Michael Pachota, didn’t shut the door on the recently revealed new-generation Suzuki Across which will soon make its way to Europe and the UK.
“Look, consumers are always asking if there are any bigger cars, any other opportunities that we have in our stable, because we’ve got a lot of loyalists to our brand. Obviously, we’ve built that with history, a heritage of reliability,” Mr Pachota said.
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“A lot of customers [ask] ‘what’s next from Suzuki’, and ‘these models are available overseas’ – we’ve seen this, our dealers get a lot of that feedback as well, they feed it back to us, we feed it back to Japan.”
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“There’s been no discussion with us to date in regards to introducing [the Across or Swace] to Australia based on our current plan. With that said, I mean things could change,” Mr Pachota continued.
“But, we’ve never seen, or had an opportunity to this point to be able to bring those products to Australia.”
Mr Pachota’s comments aren’t as definitive as previous comments from Suzuki Australia in the past.
When the new-generation Across was first revealed last month, a spokesperson for the brand’s local arm said: “The Across is strictly a Europe-only model and won’t be offered here”.
The 2026 Suzuki Across was revealed for Europe and the UK in February, effectively a rebadged Toyota RAV4 ‘Edge’ or ‘Adventure’ running a 2.5-litre plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain with all-wheel drive.
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It’s the Japanese brand’s flagship model in Europe and the UK, priced from just £49,679 ($93,640).
While that pricing seems wild by direct conversion, if it were to land Down Under it would likely be closer in positioning to the new Toyota RAV4 on which it’s based – the most attainable RAV4 PHEV AWD starts from $63,340 plus on-road costs in Australia.
Suzuki also offers the Swace in Europe, a rebadged version of the Toyota Corolla Sports Touring hybrid wagon. It appears this model has been discontinued in the UK.
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Such models would be very helpful for the Japanese brand in meeting ever-tightening emissions caps as part of the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).
From January 1, 2026, the CO2 limit for Type 1 or passenger vehicles is 117g/km, and within Suzuki Australia’s range only the Swift and Fronx 24V ‘Hybrids’ come under this threshold – at least until the all-electric e Vitara lobs.
Given the popular Jimny 4WD and Vitara SUV together account for more than double the Swift and Fronx’s sales combined according to 2025 VFACTS sales data, the brand’s local arm has some work to do in order to not risk financial penalties.
Suzuki managed to avoid accruing any penalty units in 2025, though that was with higher CO2 caps – 141g/km for Type 1 vehicles.
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MORE: 2026 Suzuki Across PHEV is a rebadged Toyota RAV4 that Australia won’t get
