Adios Aerio! Next Forenza has your number
Who would have guessed a few years ago that Suzuki would be in the midst of international renaissance? While some locales around the world already have a high opinion of the Japanese company's products, the North American market has suffered through one forgettable Suzuki after another. That's because most of them have been rebadged models from General Motors. The current Forenza, for instance, is GM-Daewoo model built in Korea and rebadged for North American consumption.
Now that GM has sold its stake in Suzuki the automaker has gotten down to business developing its own products, and the next generation Forenza is shaping up to be a contender. Developed entirely by Suzuki and set to be built in Japan, the Forenza's replacement will take the lead as Suzuki's new entry level model with a sticker around $15K. That means the unloved Aerio five-door hatch and four-door sedan will be nixed. No worries though, as Suzuki is planning on 100,000 sales annually for the next Forenza.
We're not quite sure what this means for the Swift's return to U.S. shores. Hopefully the Forenza's entry-level status won't crowd out the hot subcompact from Suzuki's North American lineup.
[Source: Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony 6:15PM (6/04/2006)
Not sure where you are getting your information from but word is that the next Forenza/Optra/Lacettii (J-car) are delayed until MY2009, also Suzuki has not developed the J-car GM DAT is taking the reigns with that. Suzuki is also under no obligation to take any next generation models under the current GM DAT contract, and given GM divest in Suzuki and the recent moves by Suzuki/Nissan and Nissan people being hired by American Suzuki, I wouldn't be shocked to hear that no further GM DAT vehicles will be imported under the Suzuki banner (anyone see the new Verona that was supposed to debut at NYIAS?).... I'd guess that we might see the J-car in the US as a Pontiac, to give its G5 model line some differentiation from the Cobalt.
Suzuki will be replacing the Aerio SX with the SMC developed SX4 and then a year later a sedan will arrive to replace the Aerio sedan.... The Swift can't be imported due to crash test regs, besides that car was never developed for the US market so the earliest the US would get a swift would be on the next major redesign (2011-2012: given Suzuki's rather long model lifespans of 6-7 years)... and given the demise of Forenza I wouldn't be surprized if there was something new in the pipeline from SMC or even SMC/Nissan by 2009.
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ALaN 6:35PM (6/04/2006)
ARE U sure the swift cant come because of test regulations.......it got awesome crash scores in Europe
here the link that says soo
http://www.newsuzukiswift.co.uk/
click on product info then go to the 4 pg it brings front side and side curtain airbags wat else can u do to make this car safe.
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Tony 9:12PM (6/04/2006)
One point to is the rear crash structure won't meet US standards- it was never designed for US bumper regulations.
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Kowell 9:17PM (6/04/2006)
Can't wait for the SX4 and the Euro-Swift to come back to North America. Lets just hope that Suzuki models will remain true to older Suzuki models and resist the current "americanising" wave most companies have dived in (bigger, heavier, more powerfull and less fuel efficient)
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Howard Kerr 9:22PM (6/04/2006)
As a fan of small cars and Japanese small cars in particular, I always felt that the cars Suzuki was sending to the U.S. up until recently were.....how to say it? Stupid? Ill-conceived? The Swift was just about to get good when Suzuki replaced it with the Aerio. Except for the AWD models, I never understood why anyone would buy either the Aerio sedan or wagon. The looked ridiculous: tall, small wheels, and the instrument panel with it's narrow band of gauges... The best that could be said about the
Aerio was that it was well-built and made decent power from it's small engine.
Then, in an effort to get bigger cars/ quickly expand the range of models, we got these re-bodied Daewoos. Cars that had a low selling price as their biggest draw when Daewoo tried to sell them. Yes, they looked better than Daewoos and Suzukis up to that point, but where were the REAL Suzukis?
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Frank and Beans 9:23PM (6/04/2006)
Tony, your information is confusing to some of the readers who don't know what J- car and GM DAT stand for. Secondly, how do we know if your info. is legit?
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Frank and Beans 10:01PM (6/04/2006)
Howard, in the next few years we should see real Suzukis: (1) GM is gone. (2)and if Nissan doesn't rebadge any of the crap built in Mexico and the U.S.
I don't want to see a Sentra/Versa Suzuki.
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Tony 11:04PM (6/04/2006)
GM DAT- is the General Motors (83%)/ Suzuki (17%) joint venture that bought up the old Daewoo... it stands for General Motors Daewoo Auto & Technology..
J-Car product name for the Forenza/Optra/Lacettii car
T-Car is the Aveo/Gentra/G3, and V-car is the Verona/Magnus
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bo zolland 12:00AM (6/05/2006)
How do i post a new post in Spy photos?
BoZ
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Jay 1:42AM (6/05/2006)
It'll be sad to see it go...I had a soft spot for the Aerio, though it did have some shortcomings, notably it's poor-for-the-class fuel economy. It had a great options list, except for the AWD only available with an automatic. And if not for the tiny-proportioned wheels, it was actually a pretty sharp-looking vehicle. But with Reno, Aerio, Forenza, and the upcoming SX4 all fighting around the same price point, I guess something had to go. I want to like the new SX4, but I'm not sure about it yet...
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Kotse 7:01PM (6/05/2006)
Forenza would be entry level at $15k..so the SX4 2.0 would be more expensive then?
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