2017 Suzuki S-Cross facelift revealed ahead of Paris Motor Show debut

Suzuki’s S-Cross compact crossover hatch will get a makeover in time for the Paris Motor Show, with the Japanese automaker revealing the car’s bolder and more assertive design today.

The chrome-ringed 10-slat grille is all new and moved higher relative to the old model, the bonnet pressing grows two longitudinal strakes and the front bumper plastics are completely revised with new cutouts and contouring. The headlamps have shrunk too, eliminating the current car’s wide-eyed look.

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The net result is a car with a less front-heavy design. The current S-Cross looks heavy-handed and awkwardly proportioned by comparison, even though all sheetmetal bar the bonnet appears to carry over unchanged.

What we can’t see just yet is the cabin, which Suzuki says has been updated with more refined interior materials.

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Under the restyled bonnet lies Suzuki’s new 1.0 litre and 1.4 litre Boosterjet direct-injection turbo petrol motors, the first of which makes 82kW/160Nm in the Baleno small hatch while the latter generates 103kW/220Nm in Vitara Turbo guise.

Together they replace the 86kW/156Nm naturally-aspirated 1.6 litre petrol motor that propels the current-gen S-Cross range. It’s unclear at this point which engine will find its way to Australia-bound S-Crosses (or when we can expect the update on our shores), though Suzuki Australia has been approached for comment.

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The 2017 Suzuki S-Cross – which is sold in Europe as the SX4 S-Cross – will be accompanied on the Suzuki stand at Paris by the Ignis city car, a pint-sized five-door crossover which resurrects a badge last seen in Australia in 2005.

An Australian release for the Ignis has yet to be announced, though the boss of Suzuki’s local operation is on record as saying it would be a likely starter for a local release provided currency and specification concerns are addressed.

The 2017 Suzuki Ignis is powered by a 67kW/118Nm 1.2 litre naturally-aspirated four, though a mild hybrid will be available in its home market of Japan together with an AWD variant.