Suzuki launches police car that carries ten people but has only 97 hp

Suzuki launched a factory car in the Philippines that has no intention of winning a chase — and assumes it without embarrassment. The Carry Patrol Van has 97 hp, a five-speed manual transmission, rear-wheel drive and carries up to ten people in side seats installed in the rear. The price starts at 822 thousand Philippine pesos, equivalent to about R$ 69,700.

The logic is very different from the Brazilian one. While the police in Brazil invest in large and powerful SUVs, ready to close highways, such as the Toyota SW4, Southeast Asia needs something else: a vehicle that passes on a narrow street and costs almost nothing to run. Suzuki responded to the request with what it had on the shelf.

The target customer is city halls and the barangays, the smallest administrative division in the Philippines, something between a neighborhood and a district. In this context, patrol does not mean siren at high speed, but presence: going around the block, taking troops from one point to another and not breaking down.

97 hp to carry ten adults

The mechanics have not changed at all. The 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, aspirated and installed under the floor, delivers 97 hp and 13,8 kgfm — numbers of a 1.3-liter aspirated hatch , only here they need to move 4,19 m of utility plus ten occupants. The chassis follows stringers with leaf springs at the rear, and the load capacity reaches 940 kg. In the Philippines, the Carry is a larger and wider version of the Japanese kei truck , produced in Indonesia since 2019 with virtually no changes.

The police conversion happens only behind. The cabin remains original, and the cargo compartment receives a reinforced module with reversible seats, checkered sheet metal floor and built-in side step. Those who expect something armored will be disappointed: the side closures are made of rollable canvas — with braids, for the record. From the factory come the emergency lights on the ceiling, the siren and an external speaker for warnings to the public.

Civilian version comes with fire extinguisher on board

Next to the vehicle, Suzuki presented the Carry PUV Class 1, aimed at transport cooperatives, municipal shuttles and resorts. It swaps the lights for a boxy rear module, with side seats, higher ceilings, roll-up canvas windows and fire extinguisher as standard. It costs 849,000 pesos (US$13,800), while the regular Carry line starts at 614,000 pesos (US$10,000).