Suzuki
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Suzuki
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| Owned by | General Motors - just 10% |
| Introduction | Like Honda, Suzuki has equal success in
car and motorbike business. Unlike Honda, Suzuki `s car division produces
mostly small cars (in other words, K-car) and small off-roader. This gave
it an edge during economic recession. In 1998, Suzuki still produced over
1.6 million cars, placing it higher than Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Isuzu
and Daihatsu in sales chart (in terms of no. of cars produced). In other
words, just behind Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Thanks to the partnership with GM, which owns 10% stocks, Suzuki supply Swift to Chevrolet for sale in the US. The Wagon R, once being top seller in Japan, appears in Europe under Opel / Vauxhall s badge.
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| Sales figure | 1998 sales : 1.62 million cars |
| Location | Headquarters: Takatsuka, Hamamatsu |
| Brief History | In 1911, Michio Suzuki established his
company as a manufacturer for textile looms. 40 years later, when the world-wide
cotton market collapsed, Suzuki decided to diversify his products, the most
successful was motorcycle. In 1954, the company was producing 6,000 motorcycles
per month and became one of the biggest motorcycle maker.
Next year saw the first car produced, Suzulight. However, the early Suzuki car division made name by creating the first small 4wd off-roader in Japan, the LJ10. Since then it continued to introduced many small off-roaders. The first K-car, Alto, was launched in 1979. It also set the trend for Suzuki `s products today. |
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Wagon R+