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Junkyard Gem: 2000 Suzuki Esteem Wagon

GM began selling Americans the Suzuki Cultus with Chevrolet Sprint badges in the 1985 model year, with the following generation of Cultus becoming the Geo (and, a bit later, Chevrolet) Metro. Suzuki began selling the Cultus as the Swift over here starting in 1990, then enlarged that car's platform to create the bigger Cultus Crescent five years later. This car first showed up in American Suzuki showrooms as the 1995 Esteem, and a wagon version arrived for 1998. Most of the Esteem longroofs disappeared from our roads long ago, but I was able to find this high-mile 2000 model in a Northern California car graveyard. The Esteem was available in the United States through 2002, after which it was replaced by the Aerio. Since station wagons were falling out of favor in a hurry with American car shoppers by that point, the Aerio wasn't available as a wagon; Suzuki buyers here who insisted on a small cargo hauler in 2003 either had to move up to the bigger Forenza wagon or join the SUV craze by getting a Vitara. All that was in the future when this car was first sold, though. It's a base-grade GL 1.8 model with no options that I can find, and its MSRP was $13,399. That's about $23,959 in 2023 dollars. The 2000-2002 Esteem wagon was forced to compete for sales against the bigger and more powerful Daewoo Nubira wagon, which had a menacingly similar price tag ($14,160 in 2000, or $25,320 after inflation). Hyundai was in the final year of selling a wagon version of the Elantra here in 2000, and its price was a mere $12,499 ($22,350 today). Ford was asking $15,380 for its cheapest 2000 Focus wagon ($27,501 now), while Saturn offered the SW2 wagon for $14,290 ($25,552 in 2023 bucks). What all those affordable small wagons had in common was a five-speed manual transmission as base equipment, and that's what this car has. A four-speed automatic added $1,000 ($1,788 today) to the cost of a new 2000 Esteem. This car came with a DOHC 1.8-liter four-cylinder rated at 122 horsepower and 117 pound-feet. Not exciting by 21st-century standards, but enough to keep driving misery at bay in a 2,359-pound wagon. This car's owner or owners took good care of it, and it rewarded them by driving 237,255 miles during its 23 years on the road. The interior still looks good, which is typical of high-mile cars I find in these places. A car owner who keeps the upholstery in good shape also tends to perform all the maintenance on the dot.

Suzuki posts 46% drop in first-quarter profit on slowing India demand

TOKYO — Suzuki on Monday reported a 46.2% fall in first-quarter operating profit, hurt by lower output at home as it improves its inspection systems, and falling demand in India, its biggest market. Japan's fourth-largest automaker posted an operating profit of 62.7 billion yen (GBP487 million) for the April-June quarter, down from 116.5 billion yen a year earlier and below a mean forecast of 69.09 billion from eight analysts, according to Refinitiv. Suzuki reaffirmed its forecast for full-year operating profit to come in at 330 billion yen, up 1.7% from the year ended March 2019. Suzuki, known for its Swift and Baleno compact models, is bracing for subdued growth this year in India, where roughly one in two cars sold carries its brand. The company stuck to a forecast for vehicle sales to increase slightly on the year, but conceded that it may need to trim its forecasts in the coming months as slowing economic growth and stricter emissions standards could dent sales. Slowing profit growth could hamper its ability to invest in and develop lower-emissions vehicles and on-demand transportation services necessary to survive the technological upheaval currently underway in the global auto industry. The automaker has long acknowledged that it cannot shoulder the costs of developing electric vehicles and self-driving cars on its own, and has turned to Toyota to supply Suzuki vehicles with its gasoline hybrid systems.

Suzuki Jimny pickup concept heading to Tokyo Auto Salon

Some of the best news this year is coming at the tail end of 2018. Suzuki's Jimny is already pretty awesome, but for the upcoming 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon, Suzuki is preparing something quite special for its little off-roader: a Jimny pickup! Suzuki based the concept on the Sierra trim level. The truck is designed to be an active sidekick for customers who need the convenience of a pickup for either DIY stuff or adventuring. The retro style is immensely cool: gold bodywork, wood sides, different grille, light bar, white roof and matching white wheels with chromed hubcaps — the entire thing is like a 1970s Suzuki aftermarket parts catalogue applied to a new Jimny. The cab has been shortened to ditch the rear seats, and a short bed has been tacked on without lengthening the wheelbase. If you ask us, the wheelbase even looks shorter than stock. Accompanying the pickup is a "Survive" concept that looks ready for adventuring. The stock bumpers have been replaced with sturdy metal ones that improve the approach and departure angle. There's also an external rollover cage, a winch, custom wheels and some Defender-style aluminum diamond plate. Suzuki says the Jimny Survive has been outfitted for traversing "severe nature" under extreme conditions. We'd happily take both of these mountaineering or even for a weekend trip to the cottage. While both of these trucks are obviously concepts, they show the direction where a Jimny owner could feasibly take their truck. And since some earlier generation Jimnys have been available as pickups, it's not totally improbable to imagine a production Jimny pickup somewhere in the next decade. Here's hoping. Related Video: Image Credit: Suzuki Tokyo Motor Show Suzuki SUV Concept Cars suzuki jimny