Suzuki Motor Corporation (スズキ株式会社, Suzuki Kabushikigaisha) is a Japanese multinational corporation that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles, a full range of motorcycles, All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines. Suzuki is the 12th largest automobile manufacturer in the world, employs over 45,000 people, has 35 main production facilities in 23 countries and 133 distributors in 192 countries.
In 1909, Michio Suzuki founded the Suzuki Loom Company in the small seacoast village of Hamamatsu, Japan. Business boomed as Suzuki built weaving looms for Japan's giant silk industry. Suzuki's only desire was to build better, more user-friendly looms. In 1929, Michio Suzuki invented a new type of weaving machine, which was exported overseas. Suzuki filed as many as 120 patents and utility model rights. For the first 30 years of the company's existence, its focus was on the development and production of these exceptionally complex machines.
Despite the success of his looms, Suzuki realized his company had to diversify and he began to look at other products. Based on consumer demand, he decided that building a small car would be the most practical new venture. The project began in 1937, and within two years Suzuki had completed several compact prototype cars. These first Suzuki motor vehicles were powered by a then-innovative, liquid-cooled, four-stroke, four-cylinder engine. It featured a cast aluminum crankcase and gearbox and generated 13 horsepower (9.7 kW) from a displacement of less than 800cc.
With the onset of World War II, production plans for Suzuki's new vehicles were halted when the government declared civilian passenger cars a "non-essential commodity." At the conclusion of the war, Suzuki went back to producing looms. Loom production was given a boost when the U.S. government approved the shipping of cotton to Japan. Suzuki's fortunes brightened as orders began to increase from domestic textile manufacturers. But the joy was short-lived as the cotton market collapsed in 1951.
Faced with this colossal challenge, Suzuki's thoughts went back to motor vehicles. After the war, the Japanese had a great need for affordable, reliable personal transportation. A number of firms began offering "clip-on" gas-powered engines that could be attached to the typical bicycle. Suzuki's first two-wheel ingenuity came in the form of a motorized bicycle called, the "Power Free." Designed to be inexpensive and simple to build and maintain, the 1952 Power Free featured a 36 cc two-stroke engine. An unprecedented feature was the double-sprocket gear system, enabling the rider to either pedal with the engine assisting, pedal without engine assist, or simply disconnect the pedals and run on engine power alone. The system was so ingenious that the patent office of the new democratic government granted Suzuki a financial subsidy to continue research in motorcycle engineering, and so was born Suzuki Motor Corporation.
In 1953, Suzuki scored the first of countless racing victories when the tiny 60 cc "Diamond Free" won its class in the Mount Fuji Hill Climb.
By 1954, Suzuki was producing 6,000 motorcycles per month and had officially changed its name to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. Following the success of its first motorcycles, Suzuki created an even more successful automobile: the 1955 Suzulight. Suzuki showcased its penchant for innovation from the beginning. The Suzulight included front-wheel drive, four-wheel independent suspension and rack-and-pinion steering -- features common on cars half a century later.
Alto
The Suzuki Alto is a kei car from Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation, introduced in 1979.
The Suzuki Alto Works was fitted with a 660 cc F6A engine and a turbocharger. It is available as a FWD or an AWD.
Other turbocharged models called the Alto RS-X and Alto RS-R were also sold.
The Suzuki Alto is also assembled in Pakistan by Pak Suzuki. The Mehran 800 and Alto 800 have been manufactured in Karachi since 1982, the former model being based on an older Suzuki Alto model. Seven different Suzuki vehicles are manufactured by PakSuzuki and most vehicles are available with CNG option. In 1992, a new plant was built at Port Mohammad Bin Qasim near Karachi.
In addition, the Korean-sourced Daewoo Tico was based on the 1982 Alto and was also sold by Mazda as the Carol.
APV
Suzuki APV (All Purpose Vehicle) is Suzuki's budget MPV designed in Japan and assembled in Indonesia by PT. Indomobil Suzuki International (a subsidiary of Suzuki).
At November 2007, Suzuki released the improved APV nicknamed APV Arena. It offers more luxurious features with the SGX type as the flagships. Not just doing some facelift in exterior but also the interior is changed as well an improvement in engine performance.
They are exported to countries like Australia, Pakistan, Argelia, Aruba, Malaysia and Chile.
Grand Vitara
The Suzuki Grand Vitara was a compact SUV, namely a long-wheelbase version of the Vitara, produced by the Japanese automaker Suzuki since 1999. It was facelifted in 2002 and 2004, and redesigned in 2006. A rebadged version was sold in North America by General Motors as the Chevrolet Tracker. The Tracker is sold in Latin America as Chevrolet Grand Vitara.
As of 2003, the smaller Suzuki Vitara has been withdrawn from the North American market. Sales were slow, with just 4,860 sold in 2004 for the United States. In Canada, sales were strong. All North American Vitaras were built at CAMI Automotive in Ingersoll, Ontario, while the North American Grand Vitaras were built in Japan, where it is the Suzuki Escudo. The 2006 model has had a structural redesign with a new ladder-boxed chassis integrated into a unibody construction. In India, it is sold as a Maruti competing with vehicles like the Tata Safari, Ford Endeavour and Honda CR-V.
The 2001 model Suzuki Grand Vitara comes standard as a 2.0 Liter 4WD vehicle in New Zealand. The 2005 and onwards Grand Vitara is sold in Ecuador by Chevrolet, yet it still retains it's Suzuki badges.
The vehicle is also mass produced in Iran by Iran Khodro Manufacturing Co.
MR Wagon
The Suzuki MR Wagon is a kei car with a mini MPV body, seating four, manufactured by Suzuki for the Japanese market only, and also marketed in Japan by Nissan as Nissan Moco under an OEM agreement. The model debuted in 2001, and since 2006 it is in its second generation (as of 2007). It was launched in India by Maruti Suzuki as Maruti Zen Estilo in 2006.
SJ-Series
The Suzuki SJ-Series began production in 1982 in Hamamatsu, Japan. In Japan, the SJ-Series was sold as the Suzuki Jimny and was a keicar. It was produced with both 550 cc and 660 cc 3-cylinder engines for domestic use. The SJ-Series was lengthened and widened for export purposes and had many names worldwide: Suzuki Samurai, Suzuki Sierra, Suzuki Caribbean, Suzuki Santana, Holden Drover (Australia) and Maruti Gypsy.
Splash
The Suzuki Splash is a new city car that arrives for the 2008 model year. The car was jointly developed with Opel, which gets their version called the Agila. It debuted as a concept car at the 2006 Paris Auto Show and the production model debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Splash is slotted below the Swift in the lineup.
Swift
The Suzuki Swift is a supermini car manufactured by Japanese Suzuki Motor Corporation. At its introduction in 1985, it was named the SA-310, but in 1986 it was renamed the Swift. Powered by a modest 993 cc straight-3 engine giving 50 hp (37 kW), 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) was 17.9 seconds with a top speed of 141 km/h (88 mph). The engine (a G10) was very light, weighing only 63 kg (139 lb) and was not very powerful. The suspension was lifted from the Suzuki Alto.
In Japan, the car was sold as Suzuki Cultus and from 1985 to 1988 in the United States and 1991 in Canada, the car was sold by General Motors as Chevrolet Sprint and Geo Metro captive imports. The car was sold from 1985 to 2000 as the Pontiac Firefly in Canada. In 1998, when General Motors discontinued the Geo line of economy cars, the Metro was rebadged as a Chevrolet. The Geo Metro was GM's most fuel efficient car of the 1990s. It's sedan version was third model launched by Maruti Udyog of India and was sold as the Maruti 1000 and the Suzuki Forsa in Canada.
Wagon R
The Suzuki Wagon R is a mini MPV, first introduced as a kei car in Japan in 1993. The R stands for recreation. It is one of the first cars to use the "tall wagon" design in which the car is designed to be unusually tall with a short bonnet and almost vertical hatchback and sides in order to maximise cabin space while staying within the kei car dimension restrictions. The first generation Wagon R is 1640 mm (64.6 in) high, or 255 mm (10 in) taller (170 mm (6.7 in) internally) than the JDM Suzuki Alto sold at the same time (which was the exact same length and width).
The Wagon R Wide, introduced in 1997, is a slightly larger car, exceeding the kei car specifications, with larger 1.0 and 1.3 litre engines - this is what was sold as the "Wagon R" in the European market (also introduced in the same year). The only other tall wagon style car sold in Europe around the time of its introduction was the Daihatsu Move.
1998 saw the introduction of the second-generation Wagon R in Japan, with the Wagon R+ replacing the Wagon R Wide in 1999 - this was brought to Europe in 2000, now sharing the "Wagon R+" name with the Japanese version. This is also produced in Esztergom in Hungary and Gurgaon, India. The Opel Agila is a badge engineered version of the Suzuki Wagon R+, also introduced in summer 2000.
A third generation Wagon R was launched in Japan in September 2003 for their 10th Anniversary, but only as a K-car - no oversized version (like the previous Wide and +) was developed in either Japan or Europe. The third generation was facelifted in September 2005.
The Hungarian-built Wagon R+ is still being produced for the European market, albeit with limited range and availability (it is no longer for sale in Ireland, for example). As of 2006 in the UK, only one model is available - the GL, with a 1.2 litre 4-cylinder petrol engine delivering 59 kW (80.2 PS), ABS with EBD and air conditioning. The current model is 3540 mm (139.4 in) x 1620 mm (63.8 in) x 1695 mm (66.7 in) (length x width x height), with a claimed 597 litres of cargo space.
In India, the WagonR is sold as "Maruti Suzuki WagonR", having Suzuki's 1.1 L F10D petrol engine producing 64 bhp (48 kW). Also, a new LPG version called DUO has been introduced lately, which runs both on Petrol and LPG.
In Indonesia, the car is called Suzuki Karimun and offered with a 1000 cc petrol engine, whilst in China it forms the base for both the Changhe-Suzuki Beidouxing and Changhe-Suzuki F-MPV.
SX4
The Suzuki SX4 is a compact car developed by Japanese and Italian automakers Suzuki and Fiat and produced since 2006 to replace the Aerio as its compact car. Although originally intended only for the European market, the car is sold in Japan, India, South America, Australia and North America as well. It was introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show and is being built at the Magyar Suzuki plant in Esztergom, Hungary, as well as in Japan. An expected 60,000 units will be produced — 2/3 to be sold by Suzuki and 1/3 by Fiat, rebadged as the Sedici. Design was handled by Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign studio.
XL-7
The Suzuki XL-7 is Suzuki's mid-size SUV, launched in 2001.
Introduced in the fourth quarter of 2006, Suzuki partnered with General Motors to build the 2007 model, now called XL7 (without the hyphen). It uses the same unibody platform and many of the same components as the Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent and Saturn VUE, but incorporates third row seating exclusive to the Suzuki. The second generation model uses a version of the GM High Feature engine, built in Japan and shipped to CAMI Automotive in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, where the XL7 is assembled with the Equinox and Torrent. Styling cues on the 2007 include a chrome slotted grille and trapezoidal headlights.
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