| Suzuki Escudo (Japan/Indonesia/Philippines) | Suzuki Sidekick (North America/Indonesia) | Mazda Proceed Levante (Japan) | Santana 300/350 (Europe/South America) |
Chevrolet Tracker | (United States/Canada) | Geo Tracker (United States) | GMC Tracker (Canada) | Pontiac Sunrunner (Canada) | Asüna Sunrunner (Canada) | Wanli WLZ5020XLD (China) | Guangtong GTQ5020XLZ (China) | Chevrolet Vitara (Ecuador/Colombia/Venezuela) }} | Japan:
Iwata,
Shizuoka | Canada:
Ingersoll,
Ontario (
CAMI Automotive) | Indonesia:
Bekasi,
West Java (
Suzuki Indomobil Motor) | Spain:
Linares,
Andalusia (
Santana Motor) | Ecuador:
Quito,
Pichincha (GM Ecuador) }} | 2-door
convertible | 3-door
panel van | 3 and 5-door
SUV }} |
Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive |
Front-engine, four-wheel-drive }} |
Petrol: | 1.3 L
G13BA I4 In August 1990, the Japanese market received a 16-valve G16B engine with as well as an optional 4-speed automatic. 1991 brought the introduction of rear
anti-lock brakes. European deliveries of the five-door version began in the summer of 1991. The Suzuki X-90 disappeared from Suzuki's lineup after the 1998 model year. The Vitara Sport variant was replaced by the Grand Vitara in 1999. File:1992-1994 Suzuki Vitara (SE416C Type2) JX softtop 02.jpg|Suzuki Vitara JX 2-door soft top convertible (Australia; pre-facelift) File:1998 Suzuki Vitara JX H 1.6 Front.jpg|Suzuki Vitara JX 3-door hardtop (UK; facelift) File:1998 Suzuki Vitara JX H 1.6 Rear.jpg|Suzuki Vitara JX 3-door hardtop (UK; facelift) File:1995 Suzuki Vitara (SE416W Type3) JX wagon (2015-06-18) 02.jpg|Suzuki Vitara JX 5-door (Australia; facelift) File:Suzuki-Sidekick-Sport.jpg|Suzuki Vitara with longer bumpers, wheel arches, side body mouldings, larger grille and powered by V6 engine. This model is known as Escudo V6 in Japan, Sidekick Sport in North America or Vitara V6/TD elsewhere. File:Mazda Proceed Levante 001.JPG|Mazda Proceed Levante (Japan)
Foreign markets North America When introduced in 1988, the Sidekick was available with three trim levels (JA, JX and JLX) and two engines (1.3-litre 8-valve
Suzuki G13BA engine and 1.6-litre 8-valve
Suzuki G16A engine ). The 1.3-litre engine was only available in JA trim with 2-door convertible body style. For the 1992 model year a , 1.6-litre, 16-valve
Suzuki G16B engine was introduced to the United States. The original Sidekick was updated in 1996 with a new Sport version available with , 1.8-litre 16-valve four-cylinder
Suzuki J18 engine. The Sport also had dual
airbags, two-tone paint and 16-inch alloy wheels. 1993 brought an update of the dash in conjunction with the exterior.
Australia In Australia, there were two models available. The Vitara JX and the Vitara JLX. The JLX offered powered windows and body-coloured bumpers. Both versions featured the 1.6-litre engine: G16A (carburettor) in the 2-door, G16B (SOHC EFI) in the 4-door, introduced 1992, 2-doors got G16B from 1994. In May 1997, Suzuki introduced the 1995 cc J20 2.0-litre 16-valve DOHC engine with both soft top and hardtop three-door models. This engine was rated at at 6300 rpm. At the same time the 5-door models received the 1998 cc H20A 2.0-litre V6. Engine power rated for the five-door V6 models was at at 6500 rpm. Some of the 1.6-litre variant for the 3-door models were named the Suzuki Vitara Rebel. Many paint or trim or sticker-variants appeared as marketing exercises during the model's run in Australia. All models in Australia were sold as four-wheel drives. Early 3-door automatics featured a 3-speed transmission, this was a GM sourced TH180 which was used in Holden Kingswoods and early Commodores and was said to not be robust as the later Suzuki-built 4-speed electronic overdrive auto transmission. The rear diff on the 1st series Vitara was colloquially-known as "the Japanese 9-inch" as it was a very strong diff and hard to damage, even with oversized tyres. The front diffs were less strong, those with the aluminium-cased housing the weakest. The front diff with steel housing was not as widely available but is sought after by modifiers.
Indonesia In Indonesia, Suzuki only sold the 5-door model under three different nameplates. It was first introduced as the Vitara in August 1992. Suzuki launched a two-wheel drive version labelled as the Escudo in late 1993 to target urban-driver market and to avoid higher taxes on four-wheel-drive vehicles, while the four-wheel-drive Vitara with 1.6-litre 8-valve G16A carburetor engine remained available until May 1994. The Escudo sales began in early 1994. Both the Vitara and Escudo initially came with the single JLX variant, and appeared with 16-inch steel wheels similar to the
Suzuki Katana GX but with silver finishings instead of white. Updates and improvements on the Escudo were available in March 1995, such as three-spoke alloy wheel with dark grey and chrome finishings, redesigned four-spoke steering wheel with Suzuki's S logo, new seat upholstery, and updated colour options (green metallic and dark purple metallic were available by March 1995). In April 1995, Suzuki introduced the Sidekick, a lower specification version of the Escudo, as the entry-level model. The Sidekick has no power window and other luxuries installed on the Escudo, and appeared with steel wheels similar to the earliest Escudo. The Sidekick also has redesigned steering wheel with Suzuki S logo, similar to the Escudo. In early 1995, the Vitara received a 1.6-litre 16-valve G16B engine with fuel-injection system and was marketed as Vitara EPI (Electronic Petrol Injection). However, due to the much higher price that the earlier Vitara, the Vitara EPI sold poorly, discontinued in late 1995. Minor facelifts became available in July 1996, when the Escudo/Sidekick got a new interior with rounded dashboard and meter cluster, new front grille, and two-tone colour options on JLX trim. The JLX trim was replaced by Escudo Nomade variant in August 1997, it initially came with two-tone colour but returned to single-tone body colour in 1999. At the same period, the 1.6-litre 16-valve G16B engine was introduced for Escudo/Sidekick range, but still with carburettor. Another special variant called Sidekick Drag One was introduced in 1996, followed by Sidekick X Pro and Sidekick cruiser in 1997, this variant was placed between the basic Sidekick and Escudo. Both the Escudo Nomade and the Sidekick was available until the launch of Grand Escudo (full model change) in June 2001. In early 1996 European markets began receiving a diesel model.
Santana Motor built these vehicles and sold them both as the Santana 300/350 and as the Suzuki Vitara, to circumvent the EEC quota on Japanese imports. The 300 and 350 have round headlights and taillights, and is the only version of the car to have fog lights fitted in the front bumper from factory. The Spanish-built Vitara models, on the other hand, look nearly identical to the Japanese-built models, sporting a Suzuki logo in the grille. Steel and paint quality is different between the Spanish and Japanese-built models, both commonly found throughout Europe. Therefore, the Spanish-built Vitaras and 300/350s are more prone to rusting in northern European climates than Japanese-built counterparts of the same age and mileage. In addition, these vehicles had less insulation than the Japanese ones since they were built for warmer climates. Some of these have also been exported to South America. Some of the notable differences between the Japanese and Spanish models are different wheels, different paint schemes and details, different side plastic trim, interior details on the Spanish ones in fake wood, and the VIN code letters - Santana-built examples have chassis numbers that begin with "VSE". In the United Kingdom, two additional body kit models were offered. Some two-door models were sold with an OEM body kit called Wideboy, which had wider wheel arches, sidesteps and 8 inch wide alloy wheels. The Fatboy was also a popular bodykit conversion, offered by the company Suzi Qs, located in
Oldbury, Birmingham, UK. The Fatboy converted models had different trim levels, where most sported Cooper Cobra tires, 10 inch wide alloy wheels, different taillights integrated into the rear bumper, in addition to extra styling options like mud flaps, sidesteps, an A-shaped bullbar and auxiliary high beam lights. The Suzuki Vitara Commercial was available in the UK. It was a Santana-built 3-door tintop Vitara panel van, with no rear windows. The Vitara Commercial had the JX 1.9 TD trim level, and sported a Peugeot XUD9 1.9-litre diesel engine. In 1999, the 1.9-litre diesel engine was replaced by more modern 2.0-litre DW10 HDi turbodiesel engine. In Norway, a modified version of the 5-door version with a taller glass fibre roof were sold with green van registration plates to bypass some tax laws. These models had no rear seats and a grille separating the front seats and the rear compartment. In addition, these had longitudinal roof rails and special custom made, removable transverse roof bars. Normal roof racks intended to be mounted in the raingutters do fit on the longitudinal rails, but do stand taller than normal raingutter mounted ones. Many of these were later converted to 5-seat passenger cars with normal white registration plates. All Vitaras sold in Norway (and other Scandinavian countries) were modified to have the low beams automatically turn on with the engine running, similarly to DRLs on the CAMI versions of the car. Another modified version of the 5-door was available in the Netherlands. It was a van similarly to the Norwegian one, but had a different glass fibre roof replacement. Official production for this generation ended in 2006 with the end of the Santana 300/350. There is also a very limited edition named Vitara Philippe Cousteaux which came in metallic pink or cyan with cream leather interior, wooden steering wheel, new wheels, bullbar and several other changes. Only 500 of this model were produced for European market. There are also similar limited editions for British market, but called Rossini (pink) and Verdi (cyan) with different wheels. These limited editions are only available in 2-door body style with a 1.6-litre 8-valve petrol engine.
China This generation was not sold in China, however there were two versions of this car sold illegally as Wanli WLZ5020XLD and Guangtong GTQ5020XLZ. During the 1990s, the government of
Guandong province created a
loophole by allowing
grey market goods importer companies to bring the car as
knock-down kit to be assembled in China and avoiding the 60-80% import tax for full car. The China government only allows manufacturers to assemble the cars in China with at least 60% local components via official 50:50
joint venture. However, the government of Guangdong province allowed these importers to import cars without tires, mirror and door handles and then reassemble these cars in Guangdong and cut the import tax only to 25%. == Second generation (FT/GT; 1997) ==