Suzuki Launches New Solio Small Wagon in Japan, will Also be Available by Mitsubishi

Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. on Friday unveiled its new domestic market Solio, a tall mini wagon that will go on sale in the country in early January. The Solio measures 3,710mm in length and will be available exclusively with a 1.2-liter gasoline engine producing 91HP, linked to a CVT and either front- or optionally, four-wheel drive. The Japanese automaker said it targets domestic yearly sales of around 12,000 units.

Soon after the Solio's press reveal, Suzuki and Mitsubishi released a joint statement announcing that the two firms have mutually agreed on the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) supply of the vehicle to Mitsubishi. Under the agreement, Suzuki will offer 800 Solios to Mitsubishi per month beginning from spring 2011.

"The OEM supply is expected to generate new customers for MMC, as it will make possible response to a wide variety of customer needs by adding a new genre to MMC's existing lineup – a compact height wagon," said Mitsubishi in the statement.

With this deal, Suzuki said it "aims to improve its productivity and lower production and development costs through further increasing economies of scale."

The deal comes only a few weeks after Mitsubishi and Nissan announced a similar but far more comprehensive OEM partnership.

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VIDEO: Suzuki Pits Kizashi Against Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4 and Volvo S40 in New Ads

Even though Suzuki had high hopes for the new Kizashi, sales of the sedan model haven't exactly blown the socks out of anyone this year. In fact, in the U.S., Suzuki has only managed to deliver a mere 5,269 units of the four-door saloon through November. Do the math and that comes to under 500 cars a month.

But the Japanese automaker isn't about to throw in the towel, not just yet. Marking one of its largest advertising campaigns in years, Suzuki has launched an ambition set of edgy ads pitting the Kizashi against similar sized models in the luxury segment such as the Mercedes-Benz C350, Audi A4 and the Volvo S40.

In each case, the Kizashi is shown in a side-by-side test with one of the aforementioned models plus an outsider, and by that we mean a motorized sofa, a man covered in a bubble-wrap suit and a stretch limousine. Well, you can't blame Suzuki for not having a sense of humor. Scroll down to watch all three ads in the videos below.

Source: Suzuki & Autonews

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Suzuki May Recall up to 280,000 Swifts and Three other Models Worldwide

Own a [previous generation] Suzuki Swift supermini produced between May 2007 and September 2009? If so, there's a good chance you'll need to visit your local dealer in the coming weeks as the Japanese automaker said it will recall 90,617 units of the Swift and three other models in Japan, with another 192,000 cars sold abroad also possibly subject to the recall.

Suzuki said the recall is due to problems with the cars' exterior mirrors as over time, strong vibrations could cause screws to loosen and possibly result in the mirrors falling off.

In a filing with Japan's transport ministry, Suzuki said it has received 77 complaints on the matter but no accidents have been reported.

Source: Reuters

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September Sales USA: Chrysler up 61%, Hyundai +44%, Ford +40% and GM +11%

The numbers are in for the month of September, and for the most part, they're looking good as industry wide deliveries were up 28% over a year ago according to a report from Autonews. Chrysler Group exec should be feeling extra happy as sales soared 61 percent over the same month a year ago, rising from 62,197 to 100,077 units.

Ford Motor Co, which includes the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands, recorded a 40 percent gain in September with sales of 160,375 units, whilst deliveries at GM climbed a far less impressive 11 percent from a year earlier to 173,031 units.

The Hyundai Group (Hyundai and Kia) had yet another solid month posting sales of 76,627 vehicles, which represents a 44 percent increase over last year.

With a few exceptions such as Suzuki, which saw its sales slide 12 percent to an embarrassing 1,641 units (even Porsche sold more cars - 1,971 units recording a 25 percent increase), and Volvo, which reported sales of 4,152 units, a 12 percent decrease from last year, most automakers posted gains:

Toyota Group (+17% - however, Lexus was down 8,9%), Honda (+26%), Mitsubishi (+5%), BMW Group (+20.5%), Mercedes-Benz Group (+15%), VW/Audi (+14%) and Nissan/Infiniti (+34%).

Source: Autonews (sub. req)

Suzuki SX-4's Darker Side: New SZ-L Special Edition for UK Market

A new special edition version of Suzuki's SX4 small crossover called the SZ-L is being launched onto the UK market this week. What makes the SZ-L special is a styling package that adds a number of exterior and interior features.

Available in two colors, 'Silky Silver Pearl' and 'Cosmic Black', the SZ-L model comes equipped with unique gunmetal colored roof rails, front grille, alloy wheels and front and rear skid plates.

Inside, the SZ-L gets Alcantara seat trim in light gray plus a three spoke leather steering wheel with gunmetal stitch detailing and a standard six disc in dash CD changer.

The SZ-L is based on the SZ4 grade and is available only in two wheel drive layout with a 120HP-strong 1.6-liter gasoline engine matched to a manual gearbox. Suzuki claims the small crossover can accelerate from zero to 62 mph (100km/h) in 10.7 seconds and return a combined fuel economy of 45.6mpg UK with CO2 emissions of 143g/km.

Pricing is set at £13,145 and includes the cost of the metallic paint.

Fire Hazard from Garmin Nuvi Prompts Recalls from Suzuki and Nissan

After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.

The recalled Garmin units can be found on certain Suzuki vehicles including the 2008-2010MY SX4 crossovers, 2010MY Grand Vitara SUVs, and 2009-2010MY Equator vehicles, and the 2008-2010MY Nissan Altima, Frontier, Pahtfinder, Rogue, Sentra, Versa and Xterra vehicles.

In both cases, the automakers will notify owners of the affected models, and the repairs will be performed by Garmin technicians who will replace the battery and insert a spacer on top of the battery free of charge.

Report: Suzuki's US Sales Nosediving into Oblivion

Remember yesterday when we said Suzuki got smacked by an average 68% sales drop compared to last August (and -52% from the beginning of the year) in the US? Well, we decided to take a deeper look at the company's sales figures and discovered some interesting facts.

All in all, Suzuki sold a mere 1,878 cars and SUVs in August, down from 5,751 units the same month a year ago. The Japanese automaker says it has around 300 dealers in the U.S. If you do the math, that comes to a little over 6 vehicles sold per dealer in August... Here are some more details on the company's sales broken down model by model:

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Suzuki's "best"-selling models, the Grand Vitara and Equator, took a 73% sales dive. Not far off that, the SX4's sales fell by 75% while the XL7 and and Forenza/Reno took 99% and 100% drops (granted, the Forenza/Reno was discontinued and only moved a laughable 12 units in 2010).

The all-new and much promising Kizashi, which hasn't officially dropped in sales because it wasn't available last August, has barely managed to bring in 478 buyers in August. For all the other scary Suzuki sales figures, scroll on down.

Looking at these depressing stats, it's no wonder they're holding off on debuting the Swift here.

By Phil Alex

US Auto Sales Plummet in August: Post-Clunker Drops and Gains

August sales, for the most part, are hurting from a year ago. To be precise, initial data showed sales came in at 997,574, down 21 percent from a year earlier, according to Autonews. After the cash-for-clunkers sales surge of '09, it was to be expected. So, after the economy's cash-injection car sale plan, where do automakers stand compared to August last year?

First off, American automakers are all over the map: Ford is down 14%, Chrysler is up 7% due to fleet sales, and GM fell off a hefty 25%.

Japanese automakers, on the other hand, are all down. Isuzu is gone, so that's a big goose egg either way; Subaru, Mazda, and Nissan kept their drops in the 23-27% range, while Honda, Toyota, and Mitsubishi ranged from 33% to 37%. Toyota, while gaining significantly from the clunkers program, was not only affected by the predicted drop but also by a variety of recalls. Of all the automakers selling vehicles in America, Suzuki just plain got smacked; it's in freefall after a 68% drop.

John Mendel, sales VP for American Honda, says, "We've known that August comparisons would be irrelevant due to the 'cash-for- clunkers' program last year...The good news is that we continue to see increasing demand for Honda products..."

Korean Hyundai group managed to stem the bleeding, attaining a Ford-like drop of only 15%.

The Germans all seem to be doing fairly well, with Daimler (+7%) and Porsche (+33%) milking gains while VW (-3%) and BMW (-2%) both stayed strong with minimized declines.

Volvo and Saab, due to their change in ownership, have some faulty numbers (see below). Other Europeans were also strong, with Maserati, Jaguar / Land Rover each posting an impressive 25% gain.

Analysts realize that these numbers are all over the place, and have stated multiple times that comparing figures to a year ago would not make sense. Therefore, they are using more comparable (albeit much closer) previous month figures to make evaluations on the state of the market.

By Phil Alex

Source: Autonews (sub. required)

New Suzuki Swift Priced from £9,995 in the UK

Suzuki's UK division has released pricing and specification details for its all-new 2011 Swift supermini, which is available for order now. Priced from £9,995 for the entry-level three door model to £12,245 for the top-spec five door with manual transmission, the 2011 Swift is offered at launch with a new 94HP 1.2-liter petrol unit that returns a combined fuel economy of 56.5 mpg UK. A revised 75HP 1.3-litre diesel engine with a combined fuel consumption of 67.3mpg UK will be added to the range next spring.

The new Swift is available in SZ2, SZ3 and SZ4 grades, all of which get seven airbags and ESP as standard. The SZ2 also comes equipped with electric front windows, remote central door locking with deadlocks, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors, MP3 / WMA compatible CD tuner with USB port and steering wheel mounted audio controls.

The SZ3 adds manual air conditioning and 16-inch- alloys, while the range-topping SZ4 includes automatic air conditioning, Bluetooth integrated audio unit with music streaming capability, electric front and rear windows, push button keyless start, automatic headlamps, rear privacy glass (five-door models) and cruise control as standard.

UK: New Suzuki Swift Pricing

Model	Price
SZ2 Three door	£9,995
SZ2 Five door	£10,445
SZ3 Three door	£10,995
SZ3 Five door	£11,445
SZ3 Five door (A/T)	£12,445
SZ4 Three door	£11,795
SZ4 Five door	£12,245
SZ4 Five door (A/T)	£13,245

Suzuki delays US Swift until at least 2011, getting advice from VW

Those of you waiting for the new Suzuki Swift to get Stateside will have to wait a little bit longer. After the Kizashi didn't exactly make the splash that Suzuki had hoped for, and with Suzuki sales in America crumbling, it appears that the Japanese automaker and 20% stakeholder Volkswagen AG will sit down to form a new battle plan.

Part of that plan includes putting the Swift's US arrival on hold until at least 2011 so that pricing and strategy could be evaluated. Some of the reasoning behind the delay has to do with the rising Japanese yen, which has also dented the company's US marketing division.

Having already cut advertising spending significantly, Suzuki says that they are unwilling to raise prices or cut content to counteract the exchange rate issue. The small hatchback will be sold in Europe and Japan until US market details are finalized.

On a developmental note: VW is looking to have final details on platform/powertrain similarities by this fall, including what can be improved and (probably) what can be shared.

American Suzuki product and development head Steve Younan says, "We should get some indication of where they may have found some efficiencies in platform development and powertrain development."

A Swift Sport with VW's 1.4-liter TSI is a very interesting proposal indeed.

By Phil Alex

Via: Autoweek