In the course of 3 years, my family has gone from zero to three Suzukis. We tried to save the company...but we apologize we didn't buy enough to keep them in North America! But I thought I'd share pics.
My parents started it all off with a new 2010 SX4 AWD. They had owned 3x Subarus, but passed on the '10 Impreza as it had grown too large for their tastes. They love the car, and with snow tires it's unstoppable.
A few years later, I bought my first Suzuki when I replaced a Ninja with an '03 SV650S. Amazing bike - fast, angry sounding, and bulletproof reliability so far.
And of course, when my last car died ('86 Trooper), I picked up my preowned Kizashi based on my good experiences with the SX4 and SV, and I have yet to be disappointed.
Three additional ones we've owned not pictured: an 86 tintop Samurai, A 4-door 92 Sidekick and the 08 AWD SX4. Yeah, I'd say we did our part as well, all were purchased new by my wife and/or I with the exception of my current 91 Samurai pictured. Probably would have been more if they were Japanese made instead during the Korean re-badge years.
Woodie wrote:Yeah, I've had five Geo Metros, a Swift, an Aerio, and the Kizashi. Don't see how I could have done any more.
What!? You mean no Samurai, no Sidekick, no Grand Vitara, no XL-7, and no Esteem?
Just kidding.
Wouldn't own a truck, but I did miss the Esteem, those were fairly nice. Also my nephew bought a Daewoo/Suzuki during the dark years, whatever the four door version of the Reno was called. Sent him in there for an Aerio and told him the others weren't so great, he came out with this...looked it up, Forenza, He likes it a lot, hasn't had any trouble with it that he didn't cause.
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Woodie wrote:Yeah, I've had five Geo Metros, a Swift, an Aerio, and the Kizashi. Don't see how I could have done any more.
What!? You mean no Samurai, no Sidekick, no Grand Vitara, no XL-7, and no Esteem?
Just kidding.
Wouldn't own a truck, but I did miss the Esteem, those were fairly nice. Also my nephew bought a Daewoo/Suzuki during the dark years, whatever the four door version of the Reno was called. Sent him in there for an Aerio and told him the others weren't so great, he came out with this...looked it up, Forenza, He likes it a lot, hasn't had any trouble with it that he didn't cause.
I am well aware of the Suzuki-badged Daewoos that were the Forenza, Reno, and Verona.
I would consider your nephew lucky. Many who owned the cars did not have a great experience and I would argue that these Korean cars contributed to the decline of the Suzuki brand. My aunt had a Suzuki Verona and she hated it. It was a lemon. I told her that the car was not a real Suzuki and that it was a product of GM's rebadging of Daewoos (a brand GM owns) as Suzukis (a brand GM controlled in the US market at the time). Shortly after, she traded it in for a Grand Vitara and was much happier.
Since then it appears that Daewoos have gotten better. They are still sold in the US, but under a different brand; Chevrolet.
The Cruze, Sonic, and Spark are all actually Daewoos. The Sonic and Cruze are made in the USA, but their design and engineering was done by Daewoo in South Korea. GM loves to hide that fact, but then its domestic rivals can't really claim American roots either. The Dodge Dart is an Alfa Romeo Giulietta with a modded platform and the current Ford Focus is basically the Focus the European Ford made which differed from the US model until this current generation. Ford basically gave up on their subpar US Focus and just took the European version.
Basically, GM, Ford, and Chrysler all outsourced for their compact car segment.
I think Suzuki's SUVs are among their best products. Until the Kizashi arrived, it was easy to find a better small sedan made by a different brand. But when it came to small SUVs, Suzuki was among the original creators of the small SUV. They were the cheaper, smaller, more reliable alternative to the Jeep Wrangler.
When the crossover trend blew up, everybody made a small SUV, but very few had the serious offroad credentials of a Suzuki. Having owned a Suzuki Sidekick in the past and really enjoyed offroading it, I would have to say their SUVs are among their best products.
If I could, I'd love to own a new Jimny as a second car. The JDM version with the 660cc engine gets 35 mpg but has a ladder frame and full range 4x4. That's my definition of affordable fun off the paved road!
Sadly, many people did not care for Suzuki SUVs towards the end and opted for crossovers from more popular brands. Suzuki let their line up stagnate and it eventually led to their death in North America. Even then, whenever I think of a Subaru Forester, Honda CR-V, or Toyota RAV-4, etc. I can only see them as softroaders; merely raised forms of the sedans they were based on.
I mean, can you do this with one of those?
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But I thought I'd share pics.
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