The Suzuki Fronx is outselling the Toyota Starlet Cross in South Africa, though the margin is surprisingly close.
The two crossovers are the latest products to come out of the partnership between the two automakers, and they’ve evidently been a big hit with motorists.
Looking in a mirror
The Fronx and the Cross are somewhat unusual in that they were launched nearly a year apart from one another, whereas most Suzuki-Toyota cars are introduced at the same time.
The Suzuki made its debut back in August 2023, while the Toyota only arrived in July this year.
Consequently, we’ve had to wait longer than usual to find out which model is more popular with consumers, but now that it’s the end of the year, we can look back on each vehicle’s sales to see which one had the bigger score.
The following table shows the year-to-date sales figures for the Suzuki Fronx and Toyota Starlet Cross since the latter first appeared in July.
| Month | Suzuki Fronx sales | Toyota Starlet Cross sales |
|---|---|---|
| July | 620 | 590 |
| August | 724 | 1,181 |
| September | 850 | 713 |
| October | 1,109 | 805 |
| November | 888 | 710 |
| Total | 4,191 | 3,999 |
Interestingly, this time around it’s the Suzuki that people are gravitating towards, unlike most partnership models where the Toyota normally has a massive lead in the charts.
It suggests that the average Joe is starting to catch on to the idea that several of Toyota’s more affordable cars actually have a twin, and that the badge on the nose isn’t quite as important as it used to be.
The two SUVs are functionally the same after all, barring a few aesthetic choices here and there to match the styling of their respective manufacturers.
They both use a 1.5-litre petrol engine with 77kW and 138Nm, and share a near-identical spec sheet and model line-up with four derivatives and two trim levels.
Importantly, their prices are much closer than previous twin cars, as the Fronx currently asks for between R298,900 and R355,900, while the Starlet goes for R299,900 to R359,300.
One key distinction is that the Fronx offers a longer 5-year/200,000km warranty, whereas the Cross only covers the first 3-year/100,000km period, so it’s possible that the better after-sale support is winning Suzuki more customers now that South Africans don’t feel like a Toyota is the only game in town.
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