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Suzuki bringing compact iV-4 to Frankfurt

Even though American Suzuki Motor Corporation filed for bankruptcy last year and stopped selling cars in the US and Canada as part of its reorganization, there are still plenty of countries around the world where Suzuki continues to sell autos. For those markets, the automaker is working on a compact sport-utility vehicle, called the iV-4, which will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
Suzuki says the iV-4 "embodies the basic ruggedness of an SUV," and that its styling is modern and innovative. We'll have to take Suzuki's word on that one, though the teaser above certainly looks the part, with the grille reminding us of the one found on the Jeep Grand Cherokee (minus a few slats, of course).
Scroll down for the short-and-sweet press release, and expect the full brace of information to be revealed in September.

Suzuki recalls 2 million cars globally

Suzuki is recalling two million vehicles across the globe, including a number of Chevrolet Cruze sedans that it builds for General Motors, because the ignition switches may begin to smoke. None of the Cruzes being recalled were sold in the US, though. This recall is limited to the Japanese, European and Australian markets. In Suzuki's home market, 1,873,000 vehicles are being recalled, including the Cruze and a number kei cars built for Mazda (the Carol and AZ-Wagon), as well as the automaker's own Alto, Wagon R and Swift. Affected vehicles were built between 1998 and 2009. The remaining 133,000 vehicles include Cruzes and other Suzuki products sold in Europe and Australia. There have been no reports of injuries or accidents due to the 67 reported incidents, all of which come from the Japanese market, a Suzuki spokesperson told Automotive News. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 2010 Suzuki Kizashi SE

American Suzuki Motor Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 2012, and new Suzuki-badged cars stopped being sold here the following year (meanwhile, Suzuki went on to create one of the biggest-selling cars in its home market). While many of the United States-market Suzukis of the previous decade had been Daewoos beneath the emblems, the Kizashi sedan was designed and manufactured entirely by Suzuki. There were high hopes – at first – that it would revive the brand's American fortunes. Here's a first-model-year example, found in a San Francsico Bay Area self-service yard a few months back. The word Kizashi means "something great is coming" in Japanese, but the Great Recession and the decreasing popularity of non-truck-shaped new vehicles in the United States kept sales of these cars low (even as Monster Tajima broke the ten-minute barrier in a Suzuki at Pikes Peak). You could buy a new Kizashi here until American Suzuki folded its tent and left in 2013, leaving just two-wheeled Suzukis available here for highway use. That was unfortunate because the Kizashi provided a lot of value for the price. This Kizashi SE had an MSRP starting at $21,499 (about $27,085 in 2021 dollars), and it had a pleasant interior and a bunch of unexpected standard features. You got keyless ignition, power seats with memory, 17" alloy wheels and a pretty decent seven-speaker audio system with USB and Bluetooth inputs (both of which were still uncommon in lower-priced cars at the time). If you upgraded to the GTS or SLS trim levels ($22,499 and $24,399, respectively), you got goodies including a thumping 10-speaker Rockford Fosgate audio system, a power sunroof and 18-inch wheels. But unless you were selling Hayabusas or KingQuads, 2010 wasn't a great time to have a Suzuki sign in front of your American showroom. The days of Geo- and Chevrolet-badged Suzukis roaming every American road ended with the Metro and Tracker; by the end, only the Kizashi, SX4 and Grand Vitara remained here. It appears that a Ford dealership in Pennsylvania sold this car at some point prior to its migration west. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder made 185 horsepower, better than its four-cylinder Mazda6 and Altima rivals. Smaller-displacement versions of the J24B engine went into the Aerio, Esteem, Sidekick, Tracker, and Vitara; the Grand Vitara got the 2.4. A six-speed manual transmission was available in the Kizashi's other trim levels, but SE buyers had to take the CVT. This content is hosted by a third party.