The Suzuki Fronx was awarded a lowly one-star safety rating by ANCAP just before Christmas. Photo: James Coleman.
As I write this, at home and seated opposite the front window, I can see today’s test car lounging on the driveway in the sun – where it’s spent most of the past two weeks.
To be clear, I liked the Suzuki Fronx.
Yes, the name sounds like a sneeze and under load, the engine sounds like it’s about to blow up. Especially when you accidentally pull the gear lever past D and into M, which is something I did often while attending the car’s national launch near Melbourne last year.
This event was just a brief encounter, but it left me oozing about how cheap and cheery the Achoo was and how it should sell like bottled water in Bali. Because what it really is, when you strip away the plastic cladding and SUV cosplay, is a Suzuki Swift that’s been on a diet of protein shakes. For $31,790 drive away.
But just to be sure, I wanted to revisit it. In the real world. Two weeks over the Christmas and New Year break ought to do it.
However, it turned out the Fronx was among the last on the list for the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) to crash-test before knocking off for the year. And it didn’t go well.
Quite apart from the “excessive chest loads” felt by the dummy passengers during the “full-width frontal test” – where the car is basically slammed it into a wall at 60 km/h – there was the rear seatbelt. Which … um, well, came off.
Chest loads across the passengers were “excessive” according to ANCAP. Photo: ANCAP.
“The rear passenger seatbelt retractor of the Suzuki Fronx failed, resulting in an uncontrolled seatbelt release where the rear dummy became unrestrained, allowing it to strike the rear of the front seat,” ANCAP wrote.
Suzuki has lost no time in pulling the Fronx from sale in Australia while it gets to the bottom of this embarrassment and both it and ANCAP have urged owners to avoid using the rear seats in the meantime.
All of which means the test car on my driveway is not only one you can’t buy, but also one you can only use half of. Is there any point me going on?
Some will say no. Not when you can get a Kia Stonic or Hyundai Venue for not much more, let alone the Chery Tiggo 4 or Mahindra XUV 3XO for under $24,000 drive away. All with safety ratings higher than one star and similar features.
But. When a fix is found and Suzuki manages to coax buyers back from whence they scattered, all that I originally liked is still here.
For starters, it’s a Suzuki. When the other, less trusted brands are out past their warranties, with resale values akin to used chewing gum, this one will still be holding its head high (even if not the occupants’ heads – sorry, I had to).
The brand’s no-nonsense approach means there are also no baffling touchscreens to wrap your head around (or bang into – last one). It’s almost like the Fronx was designed with old people directly in mind – all the buttons are big and the font large print. I might be 26, but it was refreshing.
Quality is a bit lacking. You could cut your fingers by running them over the mould lines in some of the interior plastics, for instance.
There’s a hybrid badge on the back, but don’t be fooled by that either. It’s basically the same 12-volt system any standard car uses to power its lights and wipers, so the Fronx isn’t going anywhere on electric power alone. Or quietly.
But because it’s also the size and weight of a sturdy sandal, it has that nimbleness that makes small cars like these such a joy. It’s also incredibly efficient – I recorded average fuel consumption of 4.7 litres per 100 km. That was with no more than one passenger, mind you.
It hasn’t been the best start to the year for Suzuki. Is a poor safety rating enough to put people off? History suggests not. The Swift has survived years with one star, and only in 2025 when it was finally upgraded to three stars – did sales fall by nearly half (3446 sales in 2025, compared to 6126 in 2024).
It’s also true ANCAP has inflicted plenty of misery on modern cars, filling them with all those pesky beeps and bongs and nagging driver-monitoring cameras.
The problem for the Fronx is that its main selling point is dependability. It’s meant to be sensible, reliable, solid. And when parts start detaching themselves in a crash, that image does take a hammering.
When it comes back on sale, will you be lining up? Photo: James Coleman.
2025 Suzuki Fronx
- $31,790 drive away
- 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol, 12V mild-hybrid system
- 76 kW / 137 Nm
- 6-speed automatic, front-wheel drive (FWD)
- 4.9 litres / 100 km claimed fuel use
- 1065 kg
Thanks to Suzuki Cars Australia for providing this car for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with Suzuki Cars Australia.
