Suzuki XBee was recently launched in Japan for JPY 1,765,800 (Approx INR 10 lakh). The car almost looks like other tall boy designs in the Japanese markets and without any doubt, uses almost the same interior design lines as other cars of this segment. What makes it special is the use of hybrid drive-train and certain safety technologies that are not available in other cars. XBee Concept looked almost the same and Japanese market love these types of designs. Suzuki Hustler is the closest cousin of XBee in Japan. Suzuki XBee combines the practicality of SUV with space of a wagon.
Buyers can select between the front wheel drive and all wheel drive variants of this car. The hybrid 1.0L, turbocharged petrol engine on the XBee comes mated to a six speed automatic gearbox. The MZ trim of XBee, carrying four wheel drive as standard, is priced at JPY 2,145,960 (approx INR 12.15 lakh). Suzuki Safety Support, the newly adopted series of safety equipment by the Japanese manufacturer, comes standard on the XBee. This includes dual sensor brake support, backup brake support and 360 degree camera for ease of parking and emergency situation handling.
The car just looks soft while its Heartect architecture makes it the toughest option in this segment. Buyers are offered with features like hill descent control, traction control, sport mode, snow mode and much more that one would not imagine for a car of this size. For all these functions, one will need to to consider the 4×4 variant of XBee. Suzuki India, on the other hand, has made dual airbags standard across most models. They are using ABS as standard on the newly launched cars too. Still, none of the Suzuki cars in India is being offered with such an off-road friendly feature. As of now, Maruti has no plans to launch the Suzuki XBee hatchback in India.
