Every Suzuki USA executive should drive Europe's effervescent Suzuki Ignis Sport. Suzuki sales in the U.S. may be up, but the mainstreaming of the brand and consequent move (ever-so-slightly) upscale is reminiscent of the strategy that Mazda once employed, back in the '80s. A Suzuki that has lost its raison d'etre - fun on a budget - cannot compete with the vanilla king that is Toyota.

Suzuki is a plucky underdog with a checquered history, from whom something intriguing can usually be expected, year in and year out. Pocket rockets like the SC100 Whizz Kid and the turbocharged Swift are the stuff of legend.

Yet in the 1990s, Suzuki finds itself cowering after an infamously disingenuous Consumer Reports piece which slanders the Suzuki Samurai's stability.

The Wagon R of the mid-90s finds a niche in Europe in the emerging micro-MPV segment. With the Splash of 2008, a more confident Suzuki continues to advance the art, now with the benefit of a Hungarian factory.


Suzuki goes from producing small cars with big hearts, powered by little engines with a free-revving nature, to offering also-rans such as the Esteem. The Esteem wagon has a vaguely Volvo V40-like appearance from some angles, but no one is looking to Suzuki for refinement in design.

A pair of rebadged Daewoos - the '04 Forenza compact and Verona midsize sedans - cement the thought that innovation is no longer to be expected from Suzuki. The most interesting aspect of the Verona is a 2.5-liter DOHC inline-6 developed (under defunct Daewoo) with the help of Porsche.

More is the pity that, a month before the Forenza and Verona debuted in Chicago, Suzuki has shown its Concept-S at the 2003 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Concept-S is a strange creation, tall and bulbous yet portrayed as a sporty hatchback. Suzuki's own PR handout admits the discrepancy, but proceeds to revel in it: "S stands for stylishly chunky... a blend of motorcycle; race car, and video game."


As of May 2007, Suzuki has 537 dealerships across the United States.