A solution for the seat belt locker issue will prioritise private owner cars and be reconciled by late April.

RETURN to sale for the Suzuki Fronx, three months after it was pulled due to a seatbelt failure uncovered in local crash testing, has led to an avalanche of deliveries within the past week.

Being withdrawn on December 23 on advice from Waka Kotahi didn’t prohibit test drives of the compact Suzuki sports utility.

Dealers took orders in that period and, with the car being released for sale, deliveries have resumed - with more than 100 units delivered within the last week.

Latest information about the car was shared today by the brand when it showed off its first electric car, the e-Vitara, which will go on sale next month n $56,990 front drive and $64,990 all-wheel-drive forms, both running a 61kWh battery and subject to $2000 discounts for an introductory period.

For the e-Vitara, crash test ratings could be a sensitive issue, as recent Suzuki cars - the Fronx included - have not been treated kindly.

The eVitara has secured a four-star rating from Euro NCAP and Suzuki is confident the Australasian version will deliver a similar result.

But the New Zealand distributor had expressed similar confidence in respect to Fronx, which went on sale last June, before it was assessed by ANCAP and determined to be worth of just a single star.

That score was delivered in December, when the national auditor not just slammed the car for lacking when measured to its usual scoring criteria, but also raised concern about its tests uncovering a failure in the rear seatbelt retractor during a full-width frontal test, which simulates a head-on collision.

This resulted in an uncontrolled seatbelt release where the rear dummy became unrestrained and struck the rear of the front seat.

Waka Kotahi warned a similar failure in an on-road crash could cause serious injury or even death.

That latter fault led to Fronx being subject to a stop sale, and though Suzuki has established just 261 examples had the problem - of which 137 had gone into private use - a warning from Waka Kotahi not to allow rear seat passengers went to owners of all 1048 cars delivered last year, though just

That remedy has now been delivered by Suzuki Japan and, as result, the car returned to sale on March 16.

Even though the fault during test occurred to the left rear side retractor, the factory ready is to completely replace both left and right side assemblies.

The affected owners have been advised about how the fix will be undertaken as a remedial action at their dealership. Suzuki believes the fix should take several hours.

Private owners are being prioritised. Suzuki NZ chief executive Garry Collins believes those cars will be addressed by late April.

One small vexation is that the warning from NZTA Waka Kotahi appears to still be active on the agency’s website today.

The Fronx is built in India, by Suzuki’s domestic partner there, Maruti. That collaboration also provides the Jimny small off-roader to Suzuki NZ as well as the e-Vitara.

Suzuki has enforced Fronx went on sale with certification showing it met Australia and New Zealand safety standards.