2009 Suzuki Equator on 2040-cars

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Suzuki design chief discusses Tokyo e-Survivor SUV concept

Underdog Suzuki is one of the more mysterious Japanese brands. Rarely talked about, or indeed self-promoted, it quietly sold nearly 3 million vehicles worldwide in 2016 (alongside sister brand Maruti), and Suzuki has made some intriguingly original cars in recent years. Take the cute-but-tough Ignis city car SUV or the boxy-but-compact Hustler minivan, plus quite a few more. Autoblog took the chance to catch up with the automaker's relatively new head of design, Akira Kamio, at the recent 2017 Tokyo Motor Show to discuss Suzuki latest e-Survivor SUV Concept, plus his personal inspirations. The 54-year-old Kamio – whose design back catalog includes the concept and production Splash city car and second-generation Vitara small SUV, among others – says the beach-buggy-on-steroids show car "imagines a 2030 autonomous car with electric motors within each wheel on a ladder frame." That's a long way out in conceptual terms, as some of the vehicle's futuristic details suggest – rim sections that change color from green to blue according to mode aren't strictly necessary – but there is solid functional thinking to some of its more outlandish elements. Case in point, the see-through doors – long a staple of concept-car design from Italian masters such as Giugiaro and others – have been rendered here in a forward-thinking way. "When in autonomous mode the door glass goes opaque for privacy," Kamio said. "But when in off-road mode, the door glass automatically clears again so the driver can see the obstacles around it to help maneuver over rough terrain. This feature works on the model; it's a serious concept." As to the most relevant element of the e-Survivor's design for nearer-term vehicles, Kamio points to the five vertical slots with the Suzuki "S" logo in front of the center slot. A familiar design cue of the classic Jimny SUV, here this graphic is illuminated and set behind a black-tinted perspex-like cover. Kamio would not be drawn on when the next version of that long-running vehicle would arrive. But given that the third-generation version of the Jimny has been in production since 1998, the mark 4 is long overdue – even by the standards of Jimny's long manufacturing cycles – and is widely expected to arrive in 2018, taking proportional and design detail cues from the e-Survivor.

Suzuki recalling 200K crossovers over airbag woes

Suzuki may not be selling any new cars in the US anymore, but there are still plenty of them on American roads. Nearly 200,000 of those will need to be taken off said roads - for a little while, at least.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a recall for 2006-2011 Suzuki Grand Vitara SUVs and 2007-2011 SX4 crossovers due to a faulty airbag sensor. The issue apparently results from the front passenger-side floor mat causing the Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor to malfunction over time, so whether there's a kid or an adult in the front seat, the airbag could deploy in the event of a crash.
As a result, Suzuki Motor of America is calling in 193,936 vehicles to replace the front passenger-seat cushion assembly. That's a whole lot of cars to recall, but it comes as no big surprise. Owners can expect to be notified in October. Full details in the recall announcement below.

2019 Suzuki Jimny First Drive Review | Internet darling, real-world riot

FRANKFURT — Imagine a Mercedes G-Wagen hit with an incredible shrinking ray, and you'll not be far short of the new fouth-generation Suzuki Jimny, last sold in North America in the mid-1990s as the Samurai. The resemblance is astonishing, but there's enough of the Land Rover Defender, Toyota FJ, Honda Element and Jeep Wrangler in there, too, to keep Merc's copyright lawyers sitting on their hands. Cute as a family of otters in your bath, the new Jimny's proving the social-media hit of the fall, with online fan clubs starting, splintering and re-forming as they argue over which of the six new body colors is their favorite. Yet Jimny's no style pony. That lime green 'Kinetic Yellow' color might be the ultimate urban accessory, but it's formulated to make this tiny utility stand out in bad weather and on building sites. And in a world of fragile multi-clutch-based all-wheel-drive crossovers, Jimny is the real deal: body-on-frame construction, coil-sprung solid axles with three-link location at the rear and a panhard rod at the front, and a transfer-box set of crawler gears. And with entry, exit and breakover angles and ground clearance to rival that of a mountain ibex; this is a proper all-terrain automobile, just at five-eighths scale. It all started of course with Hope: the Japanese Hope Motor Company. Its OM360 was a 1960s Lilliputian take on the World War II Willys MB Jeep. Suzuki bought the design from Hope, and relaunched it with a new engine in 1970 as the first Jimny. Through three generations and 48 years, Jimny's been called variously: SJ; LJ; Farm Worker; Samurai; Gypsy; and Sierra. It's been rebadged as a Mazda and a Maruti, and has sold a total of 2.85 million across 194 countries, including at one time America, though the company pulled out of the U.S. car market in 2012. The outgoing third-generation Jimny had lost its way with a bland, wind-cheating design. The new Jimny is back to basics. Shortened by 1.2 inches, it's now 143.5 inches long, 64.8 inches wide, 67.9 inches high and runs on an 88.6-inch wheelbase. These bonsai dimensions are dictated by the Japanese Kei car, a size and taxation class aimed at tight urban spaces. The new car also gets a stronger, cross-braced ladder frame under the separate body isolated on eight rubber bobbins.