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Suzuki has to take out $45M loan just to shutter US dealers

Bloomberg reports American Suzuki is set to borrow up to $45 million to to close its automotive dealerships and freshen up its it motorcycle and marine business. Suzuki Motor Corporation will loan American Suzuki the funds at three percent below the London Interbank offered rate in order to offer dealer owners a cash payment in exchange for voluntarily abandoning franchise agreements. The company's 216 dealers have 10 days to make a decision on the matter. Under the plan, Suzuki would give dealer owners half of what they're owed in one lump sum, and the dealers would then be able to pursue the remaining debt through the company's bankruptcy procedure.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Scott C. Clarkson granted American Suzuki interim authority to borrow the funds, but Bloomberg reports the company will likely return to court in a few weeks to seek up to $100 million. According to Richard Pachulski, a lawyer for Suzuki America, the automaker may owe its dealers somewhere around $50 million.

Suzuki Swift gets a motorcycle-inspired wide body for Tokyo Auto Salon

Tokyo Auto Salon is just around the corner, and companies such as Daihatsu and Mitsubishi have announced a slew of impressive custom cars. Suzuki has also announced its custom lineup, which is a bit humble this year at just three. They range from the wild Suzuki Swift Sport Katana to the mild Hustler Street Base. The Swift is the most impressive of Suzuki's show cars. Its name, and supposedly its looks, are based on the Katana sports bike. We're not sure they have that much in common beyond the silver and red paint job, but that's all right because this Swift still looks excellent. It features aggressive fender flares and a reworked front fascia. Bigger, wider wheels fit underneath those flares, and it has side-exit exhaust to cap off the extreme design. Next up is the Suzuki Jimny Sierra Marine Edition. Suzuki started with the wider Jimny Sierra model and fitted it with equipment for a day in and around the water. It has storage for fishing rods on either side and an interior covered in wetsuit material. The roof has been raised for extra interior space. The exterior also gets a garnish of visual upgrades such as custom wheels, chrome trim, paint scheme, auxiliary lights and tow rings. The third and final custom vehicle is the Hustler Street Base. It's fairly basic with a matte gray paint scheme, a few decals, and an upgraded audio system inside with some flashy lighting. Apparently it's designed for hip young people who live in the city and might be interested in extreme sports and an active lifestyle. Related Video:    

The Suzuki Jimny is even more awesome with these retro graphics

We already were pretty smitten by the Suzuki Jimny, the pint-sized 4x4 that, sadly, U.S. buyers can only look on from afar. It manages to remind us of its ancestors, the Suzuki Samari and Sidekick (small and basic 4x4s for which collectors and off-roaders are rapidly developing a keen appreciation). At the same time, it also rocks its own modern, mini-G-Wagen vibe. Now Suzuki has rolled out a batch of available decal packages for the Jimny, and we're digging it all the more. As surfaced by Motor1, Suzuki's catalog of accessories for the Jimny includes graphics packages in several different themes. The Offroad style includes tri-color red/gray/black stripes for the top and sides of the hood and under the rear side windows. The wide, lower-body REAL OFFROAD graphic is in red and black, while the finishing touch is a rhino decal for just above the Jimny badge on the tailgate. The Survival style appears to be some kind of camo pattern in black that is applied in a wide band along the upper bodysides. Heritage style ups the retro factor. It features red and gray upper body stripes on a white Jimny. Full the full look, you'll want the hard-shell exterior spare-wheel cover with matching graphics and the red mud flaps. The piece-de-resistance is the Revival style, which embraces the rad Eighties with a white/pink/black zig-zag squiggle on the doors and rear fenders that could have been lifted straight from a Samari. The matching hard-shell spare-wheel cover is a must. All of these prove yet again that the boxy, basic Jimny makes an ideal canvas for customization, and there are plenty more accessory items in that catalog. But we're not going to torture ourselves any further. Featured Gallery Suzuki Jimny decals and accessories Design/Style Suzuki SUV Off-Road Vehicles