Archive for Suzuki

As it doesn’t look like GM is going to receive any federal bailout anytime soon, it’s raising some cash to stay afloat by selling all of its stake in Suzuki - 3% or 16.413 million shares to be exact - back to the Japanese company, who will buy back its own shares at 1,363 yen (RM50.40) a share.

GM originally owned 20% of Suzuki but sold 17% back in 2006 in a transaction worth USD$1.96 billion. With this recent sale, it ceases to have any stake in the Japanese automaker. It also sold its 20% stake in Subaru in 2005, and part of that ex-GM stake is now owned by Toyota.

What’s next to go? Saab? Perhaps Buick will go to a Chinese company, since the brand is rather popular in China, doing even better there than in the US. There was also a story about it trying to flog off Hummer to Tata or Mahindra.

Perhaps at the end of the day Proton can buy GM for US$1

Click to enlarge

Suzuki Great Britain is now offering a Clarion 2-DIN multimedia system priced at £1,499 including VAT, excluding installation, which can be specified for the Suzuki Grand Vitara, the Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Swift Sport and the Suzuki SX4. Suzuki claims the unit has been developed specifically for Suzuki, but the wordings on the top right indicate its the MAX973HD, a model that been out since last year!

Features of the new 2-DIN head unit include GPS navigation, CD, DVD and iPod connectivity, and a touch-screen 7 inch LCD interface to select songs, playlists and artists. There is also a CD-ripping function that can store MP3 recorded from CDs onto its on-board 40GB hard drive.

Click the thumbnails above for larger images.

This special GT styling package is currently offered to owners of the Suzuki Splash who want to spice up their little hatchback in certain market regions.

At this price segment these bits of kit probably do not offer any aerodynamic benefits at all, but almost every car looks better with a little diffuser-ish design on the rear bumper to help it look less fat, especially with increasingly strict crash test regulations bloating those bumpers up.

Any European entrepreneur want to develop a similiar styling bodykit for the Suzuki Splash-derived Opel Agila?

One advantage of selling a CBU car in Malaysia is that you can react to model offering changes very quickly. That is why Suzuki Malaysia Automobile Sdn Bhd is able to bring in the facelifted Suzuki Grand Vitara so quickly shortly after it was unveiled internationally in early October 2008.

There are very minor changes on the front end - so minor that at first glance you may think that it looks exactly the same. I had trouble spotting the difference, to be honest. The bumper design is almost the same except the foglamps have been moved further away from the center to help the Grand Vitara look wider. There is also a new design for the front grille. From the side view, you will now notice a new 17 inch wheel design.

On the interior, there is a new multi-information display integrated into the meter cluster. The climate control area also has been redesigned. The steering wheel audio switches are now illuminated. Finally, the seat upholstery now has a new design for the fabric.

The facelifted Vitara adds a 2.4 liter engine to the model line-up but in Malaysia we continue to get a 2.0 liter model producing 138hp at 5,900rpm and 183Nm of torque at 4,300rpm, mated to a 4-speed auto with ratios from 2.862 to 0.688. One technical change is the addition of disc brakes at the rear.

The Suzuki Grand Vitara minor facelift retails for RM117,125.90 OTR with insurance (RM113,900 without insurance).

Click to enlarge

Here are more details on the Suzuki Alto, which we sort of had a look at earlier in teaser form and also as a rebadged Nissan Pixo. The new compact A-segment hatchback is targeted to sell about 60,000 units a year in Europe following its Spring 2009 launch. It’s also set to be one of the few top sellers in India under the Maruti name.

The new Suzuki Alto measures 3,500mm long, 1,600mm wide and 1,470mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,360mm. This means it is shorter, wider but lower than the Viva which has dimensions of 3,575mm x 1,475mm x 1,530mm. As for boot size, the Alto can take 129 liters with the rear bench in place and utilised.

The Alto uses a MacPherson strut suspension design at the front and what Suzuki calls a proprietary 3-link torsion beam at the rear, whatever that means. Under the hood is the inline-3 1.0 liter K10B unit that made its debut with the Suzuki Splash. It produces 68 PS at 6,000rpm and 90Nm of torque at 4,800rpm.

With a kerb weight of 910kg for the high-spec automatic version, it has a power to weight ratio of 13.38kg per PS, compared to the Viva 1.0 Premium automatic’s 13.33kg per PS. This means its performance should be very similiar to the Viva 1.0 Premium, though the VIva’s peak torque of 90Nm kicks in earlier at 3,600rpm.

Look after the jump for 3 more shots of the Alto.

Click here to read the rest of New Suzuki Alto: performance and dimensions

Suzuki has unveiled a facelifted version of the Suzuki Grand Vitara flagship, now available with a new larger 2.4 liter engine.

The new 2.4 liter engine produces 166 PS in the three door body and 169 PS in the five door body. The engine features a balance shaft, a three-stage variable air intake and a tumble control valve for the intake to for the best possible fuel-air mixture.

Other changes include new ventilated discs for the rear brakes, extra shock-absorbing elements at the front to reduce pedestrian injury risk, and ESP is now fitted as standard. Apparently the interior and exterior styling has received minor updates as well but they are probably so minor that other than the new wheels, I can’t seem to detect any.

Look after the jump for a photo of the 3-door body and the new interior.

Click here to read the rest of Facelifted Suzuki Grand Vitara now with 2.4L engine

Suzuki has just unveiled its all-new Suzuki Wagon-R in Japan. It’s essentially the same car and model line-up as the Mazda AZ-Wagon, offering two different styling options, two engines and three choices of gearbox.

The base model is the Suzuki Wagon-R while the more upmarket racy version is the Suzuki Wagon-R Stingray, mirroring Mazda’s AZ-Wagon and AZ-Wagon Custom Style cars. You have the choice of either a 54 PS normally aspirated 660cc engine or a turbocharged 660cc offering 64 PS.

Look after the jump for more photos of the new Suzuki.

Click here to read the rest of Suzuki Wagon-R launched in Japan

Suzuki has unveiled a preview of the next generation Suzuki Alto, which will make its debut at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The new Alto was shown to us in concept form as the Suzuki A-Star Concept. The new Alto will replace the best-selling Maruti Alto currently sold in Japan, but the Maruti 800 based on an even older Alto will still soldier on, repositioned with less specs and a lower price to compete with the Tata Nano.

As India is the Alto’s biggest market, the world production center for the new Suzuki Alto will be situated in Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant. If Suzuki Malaysia deems the Alto suitable for Malaysian consumption (Hyundai seems to think so with the recently introduced Indian-sourced i10), the Alto we get will most likely come from India.

The recent news of a free trade agreement being discussed between ASEAN and India will be good news for the i10 and the Alto if it is introduced here as it would mean less taxes for Indian imports.

One more photo of the new Suzuki Alto available after the jump, with more details to be revealed as we approach the 2008 Paris show.

Click here to read the rest of New Suzuki Alto images released, details to come

After teasing us with the Suzuki SX4 Sedan’s impending introduction with various units placed in shopping malls around the country as part of a contest, Suzuki Malaysia Automobile Sdn Bhd has unveiled the Suzuki SX4 Sedan yesterday. The car is a CBU unit fully imported from Japan and two variants are available, both with a 1.6 liter engine and automatic transmission.

The Nissan Latio is no longer alone in its game as a 1.6 liter B-segment sedan. The Suzuki SX4 sedan is powered by the same 1.6 liter VVT engine as its hatchback sibling. It puts out a rather sedate 102 PS at 5,600rpm and 140Nm of torque at 4,000rpm through the front wheels via a 4-speed automatic.

It’s a rather tall sedan with higher than usual ground clearance. The front fascia is actually inspired by a Japanese Kabuki mask, which explains its aggressive look. The addition of a boot onto the hatchback’s body results in a very impressive 515 liter boot space, probably the largest in its class. Also first in class is the inclusion of ISOFIX mounting points for child seats on the rear passenger bench and automatic climate control.

The base model comes standard with a bodykit. It features a standard CD player with MP3 capabilities, mated to an 8-speaker audio system with steering wheel audio controls. In addition to the standard ISOFIX points, there are dual SRS airbags in the front.Wheels are 15 inchers with 195/65R15 tyres and brakes are discs at the front and drums at the rear.

The standard version costs RM88,888 OTR without insurance (RM91,437 with insurance). The premium version will cost you RM96,567.50 OTR inclusive of insurance and adds window tinting, a trunk lid spoiler (the rest of the aerokit is standard), door visors and leather seats. Three colours are available - Silky Silver, Azure Grey and Black Pearl.

Related Posts:
Suzuki SX4 1.6 Hatchback Launched In Malaysia

Only one photo of the Nice Ze-O has been released by electric car manufacturer Nice (No Internal Combustion Engine) so far, but we are able to have a preview of how it will look like by looking at the car it is based on, the Changhe Ideal II, a joint venture development between China’s Jiang Xi Changhe Automobile and Suzuki, Changhe’s partner in China.

The Changhe Ideal was designed by design firm Bertone and launched in 2003, and it received its current looks when it got a minor facelift in 2006. It comes with a choice of a 45hp 1.0, a 64hp 1.1, a 78hp 1.3 or a 90hp 1.4 liter engine but naturally these will be missing in the Nice engineered version as the Ze-O will be powered by an electric motor. The Ideal is sold outside China under various badges like Suzuki and Effa.

More photos of the car found after the jump, including of the interior.

Click here to read the rest of Nice Ze-O is based on the Changhe Ideal II