Suzuki Vitara Shows its Face Ahead of Paris Debut

The GV rode on a radically different version of General Motors' Theta platform, which underpins the American manufacturer's current crop of crossovers, like the Chevrolet Equinox. What made the Grand Vitara special, though, was that it wasn't just another run-of-the-mill CUV. Buying the cheapest model meant living with rear-wheel drive rather than the Theta's typical front drive. Spend a bit of money, though, and you'd end up with an honest-to-goodness off-roader, sporting selectable four-wheel drive complete with low-range gearbox. It also comfortably sat five, was reasonably efficient and was quite handsome. We aren't totally sure how it turned into this.

This, of course, being the new Vitara (it replaces the Escudo, the vehicle Americans know as the Grand Vitara), which will make its global debut at October's Paris Motor Show. The new crossover has ditched its four-wheel-drive system for a part-time all-wheel-drive system called Allgrip.

Suzuki is planning on launching the new CUV in the UK in the spring of 2015, although specific details beyond that are scarce. Of course, we expect to know more in just over a month, when the new Vitara debuts in Paris.