Even more unusual, the Ertiga is powered by two very diminutive engines: the new 1.37 liter K14B gasoline engine, with 94 horsepower, and a tiny 1.25 liter D13A diesel with 89 horsepower.
Being Swift-based, the Ertiga's footprint is understandably compact. It's longer and slightly wider than the APV and promises to match the boxy one in terms of legroom, if not headroom. Even better, thanks to a unibody construction, the Ertiga is lighter than the APV. The base Ertiga tips the scales at 1,160 kilograms, some 110 kilograms lighter than the APV. Along with lower drivetrain losses inherent in the front-wheel drive architecture, this translates into direct fuel savings, with the gasoline variant expected to average 16 km/l and the diesel around 20.7 km/l.
Unfortunately, the sleek, car-based body can't quite match the APV in terms of absolute cargo space. The lack of tumble-fold seats (they only fold forward) limits cargo space to 735 liters even with both 2nd and 3rd rows folded.
Perhaps the closest comparison to the Ertiga would be the Nissan Grand Livina, which is also an odd-one-out in today's MPV market, being more car-like in profile than most. But the Grand Livina is larger and more powerful than the Suzuki seven seater.
Suzuki is concentrating on serving the Indian market first, but roll-out plans include expansion of Ertiga sales to Southeast Asia. In fact, the name "Ertiga" is Indonesian for "three rows". Expect a price of around P700 to 900k when the Ertiga lands here. Fingers crossed on the introduction of the diesel variant, as the lack of a diesel option is perhaps Suzuki's biggest weakness in this market.
