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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.

Junkyard Gem: 1993 Suzuki Swift GT

General Motors sold rebaged versions of the Suzuki Cultus in the United States, first as the 1984-1988 Chevrolet Sprint, then as the 1989-1997 Geo Metro, and finally as the 1998-2001 Chevrolet Metro. Meanwhile, Suzuki sold the Cultus on these shores as the Swift. Three-cylinder Metros were miserably slow and admirably fuel-efficient, but it was possible to buy the same car with a yowling 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine making 100 horsepower: the Swift GT. Here's a very rare example, found in a Colorado self-service wrecking yard. These cars weighed only about 1,800 pounds, so they were nearly as quick as the more powerful but heavier Honda Del Sol Si and Nissan Sentra SE-R ... and much cheaper. At $10,149 (about $17,400 in inflation-adjusted 2017 dollars), the Swift GT looked like a steal next to the $12,455 Sentra SE-R and the $16,070 Del Sol Si. However, the Hyundai Scoupe Turbo, priced at a mere $10,999, looked like the best deal of all in 1993. This one has lived a hard life, with body damage, faded interior, and rust in the usual spots. 175,303 miles, most of them probably spent above 5,000 rpm. Perhaps some Metro owner will grab the running gear and seats, in order to create a Geo sleeper... but we doubt it. Another piece of obscure automotive history, bound for the crusher. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Suzuki USA wasn't pushing Swift advertising very hard in 1993, so we'll go to the car's homeland for a TV ad for the regular Cultus hatchback. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The earlier version of the Cultus GTi (factory-hot-rod counterpart to the U.S.-market Chevrolet Sprint) got some ads full of fire and Pet Shop Boys in its homeland.

Japan's Suzuki, SkyDrive sign deal to develop, market 'flying cars'

TOKYO — Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp and 'flying car' firm SkyDrive Inc said on Tuesday they have signed a deal to team up in research, development and marketing of electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. In a joint statement, the two companies said they will also work to open up new markets with an initial focus on India, where Suzuki has a roughly half share of the auto market. Suzuki announced on Sunday it plans to invest 104.4 billion rupees ($1.37 billion) in its India factory to produce electric vehicles and batteries. The companies didn't disclose details of investments in their partnership, nor outline any production timetable or target. Founded in 2018, Tokyo-headquartered SkyDrive counts big Japan businesses like trading house Itochu Corp, tech firm NEC Corp and a unit of energy company Eneos Holdings Inc among its main shareholders. In 2020 it raised 5.1 billion yen ($42 million) in total in Series B funds, according to its website. SkyDrive is currently engaged in the development of a compact, two-seating electric-powered flying car with plans for full-scale production. The statement did not say whether Suzuki would be working on this specific vehicle. The company, which is also developing cargo drones, aims to launch a 'flying car' service in Osaka in 2025 when the Japanese city hosts the World Expo. For Suzuki, the partnership will add 'flying cars' as a fourth mobility business, in addition to automobiles, motorcycles and outboard motors, the statement said. ($1 = 120.4500 yen) (Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.