The Suzuki S-Presso is now South Africa’s cheapest passenger car

South African first time car buyers are seeking value as never before.

As pressure on the Rand and economy force motorists to take a more sober look at their ownership possibilities, Suzuki is championing the affordable option with its latest release.

Cleverly called the S-Presso, this new Suzuki claims the title of South Africa’s cheapest passenger car. Sourced from India, where Suzuki is the biggest single automotive brand, the S-Presso is looks bigger than it is.

The design uses pseudo-SUV styling details to create the illusion of size, but amazingly, this Suzuki weighs only 770kg.

Powering the S-Presso is Suzuki’s 1-litre three-cylinder engine and although it doesn’t benefit from turbocharging, it is also not required to move about much mass. With modest outputs of 50kW and 90Nm, the S-Presso should offer decent driveability at commuting and inner-city speeds, although it might struggle at Gauteng altitude with freeway speeds in the far righthand lane.

Reinforcing its cost of ownership awareness, Suzuki claims that the five-speed manual gearbox should help achieve a 4.9l/100km fuel consumption figure.

The S-Presso entry-level model is priced at R134 900. For that you get air-conditioning, central locking, rear park distance sensors and a trip computer. More important, are the safety features. Despite its affordability billing, Suzuki’s S-Presso 1.0 GL has dual front airbags and ABS brakes.

If you can stretch the budget to R139 900, you’ll get the GL+ specification, which upgrades to a touchscreen infotainment system, allowing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The rear park assist also gains a reversing camera feed.

Developed in India, Suzuki’s S-Presso is perfectly appropriate for our local market. It has a very generous 180mm of ground clearance, to compensate for those unplanned pothole strikes or gravel road sections, which are a reality of the South African motoring landscape.

Feature image: Suzuki