The Suzuki Eeco
Suzuki Auto South Africa (Suzuki SA) has launched the Eeco small panel van to add to the Super Carry bakkie in its business portfolio.
Suzuki SA says the Eeco is a market leader in countries such as India, where it has sold close to a million units since its launch.
“Like the Super Carry, [the Eeco] offers fuel-efficient point-to-point transport of goods at the lowest possible price,” says Suzuki SA brand marketing manager Brendon Carpenter.
“Unlike its pick-up sibling, however, the Eeco has all the benefits of a panel van and all the safety of its entry-level passenger vehicle sibs.”
Only one version of the Eeco is available at launch, offered with a mechanical warranty of three years/100 000 km.
The Eeco has a roof-to-bumper rear door that opens upwards and two side sliding doors that can be operated independently.
The cargo bay offers a loading length of 1 620 mm from the rear door to the start of the steel grid partition that is fitted between the loading bay and cockpit.
A load bay width of 1 300 mm means the Eeco can house a full-sized South African pallet. Load bay height is 1 070 mm.
Suzuki SA says the Eeco has a certified load-carrying capacity of 615 kg, with two passengers on board and a full tank of fuel.
The vehicle’s turning circle is 4.5 m and it has a ground clearance of 160 mm.
Under the hood, the Eeco is fitted with a workhorse version of Suzuki’s 1.2-litre petrol engine, delivering 59 kW at 6 000 r/min and 104 Nm at 3 000 r/min.
Power is delivered to the rear wheels through a manual five-speed transmission.
Every Eeco is sold with two airbags – one for each occupant – and anti-lock brakes, electronic brake-force distribution and electronic stability control as standard.
The vehicle is also fitted with rear parking sensors, a high-mounted stop lamp and an anti-theft immobiliser as standard, as well as air-conditioning and a 12 V power socket.
The vehicle, priced at R173 000 excluding VAT, is only available in white.