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Osamu Suzuki announces retirement at age 91

TOKYO — Suzuki's 91-year-old chairman, Osamu Suzuki, announced he will retire in June, stepping aside for a new leader to navigate the shift to electric cars and fight off competition from tech firms such as Tesla and Apple. The chairman, after heading for more than four decades the company that his wife's grandfather founded, is leaving his son Toshihiro Suzuki, already president and CEO, to hold the reins of the company. Osamu told reporters on Wednesday he decided to retire after the company welcomed its 100th anniversary last year and its new management plan won approval. But he said he will "remain active" as an adviser. "I will neither run away nor hide," the patriarch said, who has repeatedly declared in the past he will be a "lifelong non-retiree." The company also announced on Wednesday it will invest one trillion yen ($9.45 billion), mostly on electrification technology, over five years. The younger Suzuki said the company needed to respond to a global push towards lower emissions. "Carbon neutral is the focus now. Suzuki must not fall behind this global trend," he said. The announcement by Japan's fourth-biggest automaker comes less than a week after rival Honda appointed a new CEO, who said he would consider alliances to make bold decisions. Carmakers, particularly smaller players such as Suzuki, are seen at a disadvantage due to the huge cost of developing EVs and technologies such as autonomous driving. Suzuki, alongside other automakers such as Mazda and Subaru, tied up with Toyota in 2019 to slash development and manufacturing costs. Osamu Suzuki, who joined Suzuki Motor in 1958, became president in 1978 and doubled as chairman in 2000. During his tenure, the company solidified its presence as the top maker of compact cars. He spearheaded the company's decision to enter its key Indian market in 1983. Maruti Suzuki, which the carmaker owns a majority stake in, is India's top carmaker, selling every second car in the country. In 2016, Suzuki stepped down as CEO to take responsibility for the firm's use of incorrect testing methods to calculate vehicle mileage, but he remained chairman. Osamu, who waved and said "bye-bye" at the end of Wednesday's news conference, will be appointed as senior adviser upon retirement.

Suzuki Chapter 11 bankruptcy plans approved by US court

It's pretty much a done-deal now, folks. A US bankruptcy judge has approved Suzuki's plans to wind down its operations in the States. As part of Suzuki's Chapter 11 proceedings, its automotive unit will cease to exist in the US, leaving the motorcycle, ATV and marine units to function as Suzuki Motor of America.
It's not clear how many vehicles are left on the 219 remaining Suzuki dealership lots - the company reported sales of 1,764 in February - but the automaker has assured customers that warranty service and parts will remain available. Suzuki made an investment of $45 million to ensure its past and current customers aren't completely left in repair-work limbo.
Check out the complete announcement from Suzuki below for more information, and please join us in mourning the loss of the Kizashi sedan and SX4 hatch, two vehicles we are legitimately going to miss when this whole sordid affair is done and over with.

Suzuki planning an electric Jimny among EV, hybrid onslaught

Suzuki introduced the larger, five-door Jimny earlier this month, and an investor presentation detailing the automaker's growth strategy to 2030 shows there's more in store. The automaker's mission is to expand its lineup with vehicles that move toward the "realization of a carbon neutral society." This entails Europe, India and Japan receiving five or six new hybrid and/or battery-electric models each. In Europe, the first of Suzuki's five BEVs will show in financial year 2024; when the rollout is complete, it will include an electric Jimny — the silhouette in the upper right. According to Australian outlet Drive, starting from the upper left, the others are a small people-mover, an electric version of the Fronx crossover Suzuki debuted at Auto Expo in India earlier this month, an unknown hatchback, and the retail version of the EVX concept. An electric Jimny would get the dinky 4x4 back to Europe without any classification trickery. The Japanese brand ended export of the regular four-seat model to Europe in 2020 when it could no longer pass EU emissions. It now sends the same model as a two-seat commercial vehicle. Suzuki sells as many as seven models in European markets not including the Jimny, six of them mild hybrids, one a plug-in hybrid. There have been rumors of a hybrid Jimny for a couple of years, and it's predicted the new five-door will get a hybrid option shortly. The investor presentation deck predicted an eventual powertrain ratio in Europe of 80% battery-electric vehicles, 20% hybrid vehicles. We expect that would mean a near overhaul of the European ranges with current models dropping out in favor of hybrids with electric options. What's unexpected is that the battery-electric Jimny silhouette doesn't show on the slides for the Indian or Japanese markets. In Japan, Suzuki expects sales to end up 80% hybrid, 20% EV, the opposite of Europe. The Indian outpost, known as Maruti Suzuki, is the automaker's largest market, and one local outlet said 1,000 shoppers have paid to reserve a spot for the five-door Jimny every day since the truck's debut. The expected powertrain breakdown there is much more varied than the other two regions at 15% battery-electric vehicles, 25% hybrid, and a 60% share of internal combustion made up of a mix of compressed natural gas, biogas, ethanol and "etc." This would definitely be a market for the hybrid Jimny whenever it shows.