Suzuki is being unfairly punished by the government’s new NVES emissions laws, and Australians are being forced into EVs as a result.
That’s the claim made by the general manager of Suzuki Queensland, which is responsible for distribution of the small Japanese brand’s models in the Sunshine State,
Speaking at the Queensland reveal of Suzuki’s new Fronx Hybrid small SUV, Paul Dillon said the Japanese brand – which currently has no EVs or plug-in hybrids in its Australian line-up – will be paying fines due to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), despite its range being made up of small, lightweight, and relatively low emissions vehicles.
The NVES regulation has been designed to encourage manufacturers to offer and sell a greater number of low emission vehicles like EVs and PHEVs. Brands face financial penalties if increasingly strict targets aren’t met.
Suzuki’s renowned for affordable, simple, and small-engined compact cars and SUVs. They’re typically quite fuel efficient and not very CO2 polluting due to their size – it has no performance model nor large, hyper-polluting big SUV or diesel ute in its range.
READ MORE: Details revealed on Suzuki’s first mass production EV, the Vitara SUV, due here in 2026.
READ MORE: Mild hybrid Fronx SUV to join Suzuki Australia’s electrified line-up.
“Most would consider a Suzuki to be a reasonably efficient car,” Dillon said. “But consider in 2026 there’ll be penalties on cars like the Fronx hybrid.” He suggested next year’s NVES penalties for each Fronx sold would be “north of $500.”
Lighter vehicles – a Suzuki trait – have stricter CO2 emissions targets before fines kick in. “Our CO2 target is lower because the car is lighter, so penalties are different,” said Dillon. “It seems counter to what the whole NVES is trying to achieve.
“We build a lighter car, it meets the headline CO2 target, but then we’ve got to go better because it’s lighter. If we added, say, 300kg to our car, we might be better off with an emissions target. It doesn’t make sense.”
Suzuki Queensland is a separate distributor to Suzuki Australia, making its own product decisions. Suzuki Australia has confirmed the brand’s first full EV – the eVitara – will be in its showrooms in 2026, but it’s not yet locked in for Queensland.
Dillon wouldn’t confirm the EV would definitely go on sale in Queensland, only that they’d ordered pilot vehicles. “It’s certainly our intention (to distribute the eVitara) assuming the numbers (i.e. price) from Japan stack up,” he said.
Muddying the waters, Suzuki Queensland won’t sell the incoming Vitara Hybrid, unlike Suzuki Australia. Suzuki Queensland has already phased out the S-Cross and Vitara SUVs, while Suzuki Australia continues with them for now.
It’d be fair to say Dillon – who’s been with Suzuki Queensland for 38 years – is something of an EV sceptic.
Discussing emissions and EVs, Dillon suggested: “It’s not a big concern for a lot of people in Australia, otherwise the number one selling car here wouldn’t be a 4×4 pickup.
“I just don’t think the Australian market wants an EV, but we’re being forced on it with NVES, so we haven’t got much choice, have we? Certainly if you go up to North Queensland, nobody’s much interested at all. And a lot of dealers we talk to won’t trade an electric car.”
“I think it’ll be a small market for EVs, and unfortunately I don’t think the government’s fully considered that, and I think there are issues with the NVES. They haven’t put enough thought into it.
“I don’t think it’s treating the (car) industry fairly, and how many people does the industry in Australia employ and has done so for a long period of time?”
So would Suzuki Queensland’s NVES fines be passed on to customers? “I can’t see any way around it,” Dillon said. “I can’t see anybody (other car brands) having a way around it.”
Beside NVES challenges, a greater threat to the budget end of the market – where Suzuki plays – is the influx of cheap Chinese vehicles.
“They’re undoubtedly a threat,” said Dillon, “and the legislation has almost leaned towards (helping) it.
“There’ll definitely be brands that don’t make it (survive in Australia), and there’ll be brands in China that won’t last as they’re cutting each other’s throats over there are the moment.”
