Suzuki Australia has reverted to importing vehicles with the factory-fitted 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment units, indicating the semiconductor-led parts shortage is starting to ease for the company.
The company was installing a larger 9.0-inch touchscreen in most of its cars since October 2021 which was fitted and tested locally before dealer network distribution.
We’ve reached out to Suzuki Australia to confirm when exactly the factory-fitted 7.0-inch touchscreen returned to the affected models and will update this story once we hear back.
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Factory-fitted 7.0-inch touchscreen -
Locally fitted 9.0-inch touchscreen
The company previously said it would be doing the local touchscreen fitment program until December 2022 at least.
Vehicles including the Swift, Ignis, Vitara, Jimny, and now-defunct Baleno had these larger 9.0-inch touchscreens that went without in-built satellite navigation but still had wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also plugged straight into all the wiring for the reversing cameras.
The only vehicles without the locally-fitted touchscreen were the Swift Sport, Jimny Lite, and S-Cross.
Fitting this larger, locally-fitted touchscreen allowed Suzuki Australia to import more cars at the time as Suzuki’s Asian and European plants were slowing production in some part due to a lack of the 7.0-inch touchscreen units in the company’s supply chain.
Pricing remains unchanged for the vehicles fitted with the factory-fitted 7.0-inch touchscreen and vehicles that were fitted with the 9.0-inch unit locally. This is consistent with when Suzuki Australia originally began installing head units locally in October 2021.
Despite supply for the touchscreen infotainment units are seemingly easing, Suzuki is supply-constrained in other areas.
The company closed Jimny automatic orders in January this year due to wait times ballooning out to an estimated 18 months.
Its dealers have also been “inundated” with pre-orders for the longer Jimny 5-Door, according to Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota.
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