Autoblog

In memoriam: the Suzuki Forenza and its brother, the Reno, will shuffle off this mortal coil after 2008. Oh, how we barely knew thee – but we're not surprised.

Both vehicles have seen a dip in sales this year, and with the SX4's numbers up over 35-percent for 2007, and a sedan version due out in October, Suzuki obviously had too many vehicles vying for the same buyers.

According to an un-named source quoted by Automotive News, the SX4's market share will continue to expand, with the aforementioned sedan as well as a hatchback model supposedly due in 2009. As for Suzuki's sub-compact offering, we can still expect the Swift to arrive on U.S. shores in 2010, packing a more performance-oriented punch than the SX4, with a convertible version due out sometime afterwards.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Although pretty far off most people's radar, Suzuki's actually been doing very well lately, setting sales records (more than 100,000 served last year), enjoying three years of double-digit sales growth, introducing the fairly exciting new SX4, and in general working on a larger and better model mix. The Suzuki Sport XL7 even conquered Pike's Peak this year. Under the tutelage of new American President Masafumi (Mark) Harano, things are looking up. And then along comes word of a recall that certainly doesn't help.

Apparently faulty front seat belts in relatively ancient Forenza sedans (shown above) and Reno hatchbacks might unbuckle themselves when you'd least like that to happen. The recall affects more than 75,000 cars in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In all fairness to Suzuki, these were vehicles developed with Daewoo, and the Forenza is about to undergo a complete redesign. The success of the SX4 also means that the Reno might become redundant. Either way, it's a recall and we'll have to see how it impacts Suzuki's surge.

[Source: KickingTires]

Nurturing (or exploiting) its aerospace roots, Saab is sponsoring the Reno National Championship Air Races currently underway in the Nevada desert as part of its "Born from Jets" marketing campaign.

The air show features the Thurderbirds (the US Air Force aerobatics squad) along with the Saab Performance Driving Team in from Sweden who will be demonstrating the 9-3 Aero V6 Turbo sport sedan on the runway during the show. Saab will also be on site with a unique trailer that sets up as an aircraft hangar-like exhibit featuring interactive displays of Saab's line-up.

Saab was founded in 1937 as Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolaget (Swedish Aircraft Company Limited) and branched into cars ten years later. Today the automotive division is owned by GM, while the aircraft company is owned separately. Fortunately you don't need a pilot's license to drive a Saab, or the local country club parking lot would look more like the set of Top Gun.

[Source: GM]

Suffice it to say that Suzuki has never stunned North American consumers with beautiful automotive designs. In point of fact, reviewing their history reveals a certain manic quality, little of it pretty. Oddball propositions like the toy-like X-90 and character-free Esteem have given way to the likes of Suzuki's ill-proportioned Aerio and milquetoast non-statements on the order of the Verona and Forenza. But there are tangible signs that the automaker is finally finding the plot– the inexpensive Italdesign-penned Reno and the tweener SX4 crossover are both attractive propositions. But the offering most likely to become the company's poster child is the all-new-for 2006 Grand Vitara.

A direct replacement for its tired, boxy predecessor that reigned from 1999-2004, the new Grand Vitara is infinitely more compelling with even just a cursory glance. By comparison, yuppies ought to be clamoring for the reborn GV like it's next year's Ikea catalog. Simply put, it's a looker. The strong lines of its clamshell-style hood set the tone, creating a defining ridge across the top of the rectilinear grille, lending the clear-lensed headlamps a bit of edge. The former element is of the blacked-out cross-hatch variety, with a thin, u-shaped chrome lip adding definition and a bit of class. Even when viewed from the dead-on, the GV's meaty fender flares lend it a properly butch stance, particularly as they mold so nicely into the bumper, itself augmented by a pair of blisters housing auxiliary driving lamps. Complaints? Well, the chrome 'S' badge on the nose is a bit outsized, coming across like a Superman logo reinterpreted by an anime artist. But it's hard to blame Suzuki's designers for wanting to get the message out that they're finally in the business of making attractively styled vehicles.

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