Remember the Suzuki Ignis Concept from the Auto Expo held earlier this year? Well, seven months later, here is the Ignis in its final production form glory, unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. And it turns out that it is the same (save for some extremely minor details) as the ‘Concept’ which Maruti Suzuki had shown us in Delhi.
The clue is in the name, it is a ‘compact crossover’. If you had not been able to see the Ignis is person in Delhi, its length is shorter than a Swift (3700mm), is about as tall as a Vitara Brezza (1595mm) and is as wide as a Ciaz (1690mm). These odd proportions make it look like hatchback which has been squeezed by a giant vice, with the blunt front and rear accentuating that look. In India, its nearest competitor will be the Mahindra KUV100, another tall-boy hatchback, with go-anywhere ambitions.
The Ignis will certainly make anyone stop and give it a second look. The Range Rover-esque headlamps and the LEDs, the slab of a rear, the straight lines and the distinctive ‘gills’ on the c-pillar gives it a very unique look. Its all funky in the inside, trying to break away from the standard Suzuki touches. There is a large floating central screen in the middle with the familiar Suzuki infotainment software, with a pod underneath it housing the HVAC controls and row of switches. The rear seats fold down to liberate a lot of cargo space, but all up, the boot can accomodate 260 litres of luggage, 80 litres less than a Baleno, but 50 litres more than a Swift.
To further its crossover credentials, the Ignis has a generous 180mm of ground clearance and the European models get Suzuki’s ALLGRIP AUTO 4WD system. The ALLGRIP system is predominantly front-wheel-drive, but can shift all of the torque to the rear wheels if the viscous coupling in the rear detects slip in the front axle. The only engine offered for Europe at launch is K12 1.2-litre Dualjet, producing 89 bhp and is paired with either a five-speed manual or a five-speed automated manual transmission. This engine is also going to be available with the SHVS mild hybrid system.
Since this is for the European market, the Ignis is packed with a large number of safety and driving aids as standard like pedestrian detection and braking assist, with the input coming from pair of cameras which scan the road ahead. The Ignis also gets lane departure warning and a weaving alert.
