2008 Suzuki Forenza Base Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1986 Chevrolet Sprint Plus

General Motors sold second- and third-generation Suzuki Cultuses with Geo or Chevrolet Metro badging in the United States from 1989 through 2001 model years, and we've all seen plenty of those cars on the street over the years. The first-generation Cultus was sold here as well, with Chevrolet Sprint badges, and I've found a rare example of the Sprint five-door hatchback in a Northern California car graveyard. The Chevy Sprint first appeared on the West Coast as a 1985 model, then became available everywhere in the United States for the 1986 through 1988 model years (in Canada, it was sold as the Pontiac Firefly). It was available here as a hatchback with three or five doors; for 1986 only, the five-door was badged as the Sprint Plus. Soon enough, The General would be selling many more Asian-built cars with Detroit badges here. Isuzu I-Marks were sold as Chevrolet/Geo Spectrums starting in the 1986 model year, while Daewoo provided the Pontiac LeMans two years later. Under the hood, a 1.0-liter three-cylinder rated at 48 horsepower. The five-door Sprint cost $5,580 in 1986, which was $200 more than the three-door (those prices would be $15,445 and $14,891 in 2023 dollars). I've documented seven discarded Sprints prior to this one (including an extremely rare Turbo Sprint), and all of them were three-doors; we can assume that price was the most important factor for Sprint buyers. Gasoline prices were crashing hard during the middle 1980s, but memories of gas lines and odd-even-day fuel rationing from 1979 remained strong. What cars competed with the '86 Sprint on sticker price? Well, there was no way to undercut the hilariously affordable (and terrible) Yugo GV, which cost $3,990. The much bigger (but still pretty bad) Hyundai Excel listed at $4,995, while Toyota would sell you a sturdy (but zero-fun) Tercel starting at $5,448. Even the wretched Chevy Chevette — yes, it was still available in 1986 — cost $5,645. The original buyer of this car was willing to shell out an extra $395 to get an automatic instead of the base five-speed manual. That's about $1,093 in today's money. This car must have been slow. By the end, the doors were held shut with duct tape, but it still stayed alive until age 37. 53 miles per gallon on the highway! It does everything. The camels of the highway.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and more collaborating to increase fuel efficiency

Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Daihatsu have announced an alliance that will see a push to improve fuel economy from both gas-powered and diesel-powered engines by as much as 30 percent before the end of the decade.
The newly assembled Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines put the roughly $20-million project together, with the Japanese government committing to half the cost while the eight manufacturers will chip in the rest.
According to Automotive News, the automakers will team up and share basic research on internal-combustion engines in a bid to cut costs. Eventually, the results of the research will find its way into a production vehicle, although it's unclear just when we'll see the fruits of this partnership on the road.

Osamu Suzuki names son Toshihiro president and COO

The old guard is slowly changing at Suzuki. The Japanese automaker controlled by its namesake family has appointed its scion, Toshihiro Suzuki, as its new president and chief operating officer. However, his aging father, Osamu Suzuki, now 85 years old, will continue to serve as chairman and CEO. The promotion was announced as part of a new board of directors revealed by Suzuki on Tuesday, confirming several executive and board appointments. They include the nomination of Yasuhito Harayama as vice chairman and Osamu Honda as chief technology officer. The eldest son of longtime chairman Osamu Suzuki, 56-year-old Toshihiro was named an executive vice president of the company in 2011. He's been widely regarded as the heir apparent, especially since his brother-in-law Hirotaka Ono died in 2007. Another president & COO, Hiroshi Tsuda, resigned in 2008, leaving Osamu Suzuki firmly in charge. Toshihiro is anticipated to eventually take over from his father, but it remains unclear when that transition might finally take place. 30 June 2015 Change of Representative Directors and Appointment of Executives At the Board of Directors held on 30 June 2015, Suzuki Motor Corporation has made the change of Representative Directors as follows. The new Board of Directors is as below:- 1.Change of Representative Directors New Name Previous Representative Director and Chairman (CEO) Osamu Suzuki Representative Director and Chairman & CEO Representative Director and Vice Chairman Supporting CEO Yasuhito Harayama Representative Director and Executive Vice President Supporting CEO / Business Development / Executive General Manager, Business Development Representative Director and President (COO) Toshihiro Suzuki Representative Director and Executive Vice President Supporting CEO / Global Marketing 2. Change of Commission of Representative Director New Name Previous Representative Director and Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer Osamu Honda Representative Director and Executive Vice President / Supporting CEO Automobile Engineering, R&D, and Quality / Executive General Manager, Automobile Engineering 3.