Filed under: Economy, Japan, Plants/Manufacturing, Suzuki
Future looks bright for Suzuki
High oil prices are proving to be a boon for automakers with a portfolio of small cars, and Suzuki is riding the wave. Japan's fourth-largest automaker announced Wednesday that it is raising its 2006-2007 revenue and profit forecasts by about 7 percent.In the right place at the right time, Suzuki is enjoying a sharp increase in demand for its successful 660cc minicars in the Japanese domestic market, and a boom in the Indian vehicle market. In western markets, the company can hardly meet demand for its new SX4 small crossover (also branded as the Fiat Sedici) and Swift hatchback.
Investing in the future, Suzuki also announced plans to build a new small-car facility in Japan, with an annual capacity of 240,000 units. The $523 million plant will open in early 2008. The company is also doubling capacity at its plant in Hungary, and increasing by around 50 percent its capacity in India and Pakistan.
[Source: Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bob 7:22PM (8/09/2006)
I can't wait til they come out with the swift here. Its one of the best looking hatchbacks out there. Hopefully the diesel will be an option too. 50MPG sounds great to me :)
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Tony 7:26PM (8/09/2006)
Don't get your hopes up for the real Suzuki Swift to show up on these shores before the redesign in 4-5 years. There is probably confusion about the Swift out there because of the Swift+ that is sold in Canada, which is a rebadged Aveo.
The real Suzuki Swift won't pass US crash standards, the car was never designed with the US market in mind... I've heard the same problem with other great Euro cars like the VW Polo and Mitsu Colt.
They are kicking themselves now that they can't capitalize on the possible changing tide toward smaller cars.... Toyota couldn't have revised the Echo at any better of a time...
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djSyndrome 7:38PM (8/09/2006)
This comes mere hours after Suzuki finds itself near the bottom of the JDPower reliability rankings. And most of those vehicles were Japanese-designed Suzukis, not the stable of rebadged Daewoos and Chevys they're pawning off today.
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Shinkaze 9:27PM (8/09/2006)
Don't forget that "portfolio fo cheap economical" products includes the highest performance street legal machine you can legaly put on the Street, the GSXR-1000
A $10,000 Suzuki Gixxer 1000's performance figures makes a Corvette Z06 look like a minivan.
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TheBizofKnowledge 9:52PM (8/09/2006)
I'm not surprised at all that sales are going strong for Suzuki (in Japan, at least). The Swift is definitely a cool-looking hatchback. I'd buy one if I ever had a chance to. Sounds like very good performance and features for the money.
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Gornt 11:21PM (8/09/2006)
Hmmm...... My inlaws owned 2 Suzuki's, that were rabadged as Chevy Trackers. In fact, they still have a green tracker, a 97 model.
The red one, a 1992 model, was traded in for a jeep, back in 2000, with 213,000 miles. No Problems(except NVH... and it handled horribly, too, IMHO).
So, I dunno... these quality ratings these days are nto like they were say back in 1990.
Why?
back then, problems were engine problems, tranny problems, etc, with many cars.
'Today? My ashtray rattles when i hit a foot deep pothole!
Big difference in what is called a "problem" today, vs 1990.
On intellichoice.com, future vehicles, it says new sporty Reno model and then a sporty sedan(most like Suzuki built).
Since the sx4(taking the Aerio's place?) went down from Aerio's 155HP to 143HP....
Maybe Suzuki is goning to tweakj that 155HP I-4, and put it into the 08 Reno?
BTW: That is how a 5 door car should look, like the Reno, not like a station wagon.
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epilonious 8:22AM (8/10/2006)
gornt: I think the current Reno is one of the rebadged Daewoos. Hopefully the 08 Reno will be sufficiently nifty.
For some reason I have always had a love affair with the Suzuki Swift/Geo Metro. While it was a cheap, spartan little car.... it was designed to be a cheap, spartan little car and I celebrated it.
I was really excited about the possibility of a swift GTi making it to the states (Hey, if we drop this big engine in a tiny, light-weight car, it'll be a helluva lot more fun!)... in the meantime the SX4 looks like Yet Another Aerio (IE: What a lovely, quirky little rental car). I imagine it will be great for people looking to get AWD on a small, versatile vehicle in the snowy north... but for me, it's just too much fuel consumption for a car that small. Otherwise, good luck to them, and I look forward to their future products.
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Japanese Used Car Exporter 12:38PM (8/10/2006)
Suzuki has done extremely well by taking a calculate risk of entering in India 20 years ago, when other Japanese automakers ignored India. And now they are the top minicar makers. Swift is definitely cool looking hatchback. I am going to get one for myself.
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robert helfrick 6:01PM (8/11/2006)
Just drove the SX4 on the cross-country tour. With the auto trans the car was a little sluggish but the chassis solidity seemed excellent. Maybe the 5 speed will be a little more sporty. Pretty much for the money,it seems.
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Tio 9:28AM (8/19/2006)
I'm a bias fan so I always lean in their favor. Glad they are having a sales boom. I have a Suzuki with over 300 thousand miles. It has never broken down. General oil changes and the like are all it has ever needed. While I like the Reno looks I would not buy a Daewoo car. That leaves only the Aerio here in the USA unit the SX4 is in full swing. Suzuki auto has always been a conservative company. They have never marketed a car for it's speed. Even the present Aerio with 155hp is just adaquate. Even when their cars were light in weight they were never quick cars. I don't know if they need an infusion of new engineering think or what. They need to go up to Tokyo and get some drifters in put on fun fast cars.
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Harshavardhan 6:33AM (2/26/2007)
Wow! Suzuki....
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