Suzuki Vitara

The Suzuki Vitara is a series of SUVs that Suzuki has produced in five generations since 1988; in Japan every generation was sold as the Suzuki Escudo until 2024. The second and third generations were badged Grand Vitara, while the fourth, released in 2015, reverted to Vitara and moved from an off-road SUV toward a road-oriented crossover that shares its platform with the SX4 S-Cross. The first generation was meant to sit above the Jimny and was sold in the United States as the Sidekick, built by the CAMI joint venture between Suzuki and General Motors, and in Spain as the Santana 300 and 350. The name Vitara was inspired by the Latin word vita, as in vitality, and the 1998 Grand Vitara was joined by the larger XL-7. A model launched in 2022 for India reuses the Grand Vitara name.