Suzuki
Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs, and other small internal combustion engine applications. In 2011, Suzuki was the world’s tenth biggest automaker by production. Suzuki employs over 45,000 in 35 production facilities in 23 countries and 133 distributorships in 192 countries. According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Suzuki is Japan’s second-largest small car and truck manufacturer.
In 1937, Michio Suzuki, builder of weaving looms for Japan’s silk industry, decided that his company would benefit from diversification and that a small car would be a practical new venture. Within two years Suzuki had completed several compact prototypes powered by a liquid-cooled, four-stroke, four-cylinder, 800-cubic centimeter engine with a cast aluminum crankcase and gearbox generating 13 horsepower.
By 1954, Suzuki produced 6,000 motorcycles per month. Following the success of its first motorcycles, Suzuki created an even more successful automobile, the 1955 Suzulight with a two-stroke engine, front-wheel drive, four-wheel independent suspension, and rack-and-pinion steering, all uncommon on cars until three decades later.
Through an arrangement with General Motors, Suzuki in 1985 sold a version of its Cultus in the USA and Canada as the Chevrolet Sprint or Geo Metro, a three-door hatchback and Chevrolet’s smallest model. The Samurai in 1986 was the first car sold in the USA by the new created American Suzuki Corp. No other Japanese company sold more cars in its first year in the American market than did Suzuki. The Samurai, available as a hardtop or convertible, sold well until Consumer Reports alleged that it tended to roll over. This allegation led to a 1996 lawsuit not settled for several years.
In 1989, American Suzuki introduced the Swift, the second-generation Cultus, available as a hatchback and a four-door sedan in 1990. A small sport utility vehicle, the Sidekick, also appeared in 1989. The 1991 four-door Sidekick was the first four-door mini-sport utility vehicle in America. The small Swifts and Sidekicks, cousins of the Geo Metro and Tracker, came mostly from by a Suzuki-General Motors joint venture in Canada. The four-door models came from Japan. Negative evaluations of the Samurai by Consumer Reports caused some setbacks in annual sales at American Suzuki as they fell to under 20,000.
In 1995, American Suzuki introduced the Esteem as its first effort in the compact market segment. A station wagon version followed in 1996, the first Suzuki sold in North America with dual front airbags. Worldwide Suzuki production reached more than 975,000 cars this year.
Also in 1996, American Suzuki released the two-door X-90 sport utility vehicle and a redesigned Sidekick Sport model, an 1,800-cubic centimeter engine with 120 horsepower, 16-inch wheels, and two-tone paint. The Vitara sport utility vehicle replaced the Sidekick, and the 1999 Grand Vitara was Suzuki’s first model with a six-cylinder engine and a four-wheel anti-lock braking system. Then came the 2001 Grand Vitara XL–7, a stretched Grand Vitara with a larger six-cylinder, 2,700-cubic centimeter engine and three-row seating, Suzuki’s largest vehicle to date. The Swift left the model lineup in 2001 and the 2002 Aerio four-door sedan or five-door crossover with optional four-wheel drive replaced the Esteem.
2006 was the first year American Suzuki sold more than 100,000 vehicles in the USA. Suzuki redesigned the Grand Vitara in 2006 and introduced the all-new Suzuki SX4 as a joint venture with Fiat and the XL7 as a joint venture with General Motors in 2007. Suzuki halted XL7 production in 2009 due to low sales.
Difficult economic conditions during the 2008–2009 recession hit Suzuki hard. In 2009, Suzuki USA sales dropped 48.5 percent after a 17-percent drop in 2008. In November 2012, Suzuki announced that American Suzuki Motor Corp would file for bankruptcy and stop selling automobiles. In the first ten months of 2012, Suzuki only sold 21,188. Suzuki plans to continue to sell motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, and marine products in the USA.
