Driven: Suzuki SX4 S-Cross

Just driven the all-new Suzuki SX4 S-Cross, not to be confused with the Suzuki SX4. Completely different cars, one old, one new, in completely different sectors. The latter is a B-segment crossover, the for former a C-segment crossover. Apparently there’s been a bit of a ‘battle’ – Suzuki’s word, not mine – about the naming strategy. Japanese HQ wanted to call the new bigger car the SX4, but eventually understood the confusion it could cause, not to mention the effect on residual values. So it’s the SX4 S-Cross in Europe but nowhere else, with everyone shortening that to S-Cross – vital as the old car will remain in showrooms for the foreseeable. The S-Cross itself is just what Suzuki needs, a pleasing if unremarkable family car in a sector it’s never been in. It’s never going to have the emotional appeal of the British-built Nissan Qashqai or the award-winning potential of the Skoda Yeti, but it’s got plenty to recommend it – class-leading fuel economy and emissions, a world-first double panoramic sunroof and more boot space than the Nissan. Five thousand sales a year looks perfectly possible.