Suzuki
| Suzuki Motor Corporation
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Kabushiki-gaisha ( joint stock company ) |
| ISIN | JP3397200001 |
| founding | February 10, 1909 |
| Seat | Hamamatsu , Shizuoka , Japan |
| Number of employees | 54,378 (2011) |
| sales | $ 31.4 billion (2011) |
| Branch | Automobile and motorcycle |
| Website | www.globalsuzuki.com |
The company Suzuki KK ( Japanese ス ズ キ 株式会社 , Suzuki kabushiki-gaisha ; English Suzuki Motor Corporation ), listed on the Nikkei 225 , is a Japanese manufacturer of motorcycles , cars and outboard motors . After Honda, it is the world 's largest exporter of motorcycles. The German sales company of Suzuki is based in Bensheim .
Company history
The company's founder Michio Suzuki was born on February 10, 1887 near Hamamatsu , about 200 km southwest of Tokyo .
There he founded a company for the manufacture of looms in 1909 . This expanded rapidly, and in 1920 it went public as Suzuki-shiki shokki KK ( 鈴木 式 織機 株式会社 , Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. ). At that time there were certainly efforts made by Suzuki to develop his own automobile - at that time Japan was extremely backward in the vehicle sector compared to Europe and America, and the demand for motor vehicles in its own country increased. In 1936 Michio Suzuki bought an Austin 7 . With his engineers he dismantled the British automobile and studied it carefully, after which they developed a prototype which they presented in the following year 1937.
Other vehicles were built, but production was soon switched to war production, which severely restricted the production of “non-essential” goods in Japan. The vehicle projects have been dropped for the time being. As early as 1937, Suzuki was producing ammunition for the Imperial Army . In the following years there were increasing military orders, Suzuki became part of the military-industrial complex .
During the Second World War , many production facilities were destroyed and production moved to other areas. After the end of the war, Suzuki manufactured agricultural machinery and fan heaters, among other things .
Development after the Second World War
In June 1952, Suzuki presented its first motorized two-wheeler, a 36cc motorized bicycle called the Power Free . The Power Free motor was also available without a bike and had 1 HP . In March of the following year 1953, the Diamond free (60 cm³ engine and 2 hp) appeared, followed by the Mini Free 1954. The first "real" motorcycle was the Colleda with a 90 cm³ four-stroke engine with 3 hp, which was presented in May 1954 has been. It was innovative for the time and was strongly based on European models. Soon the Colleda was also available with larger engines.
In the meantime, the motorcycle business was so important to Suzuki that the company was renamed Suzuki jidōsha kōgyō KK ( 鈴木 自動 車 工業 株式会社 , English Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. ) in 1954 . In the same year the production of looms was stopped.
In 1955, the Suzulight (two-cylinder engine with 360 cm³ displacement) was introduced, the first successful small car . With this vehicle, Suzuki was able to gain a real foothold in the automotive sector for the first time.
International expansion soon began. In 1963 the US sales company Suzuki Motor Corp. was founded. founded in Los Angeles . This opened up the important US market.
Other important milestones included:
- In 1965 Suzuki introduced the D55 , an outboard motor for boat propulsion with two cylinders and 5.5 HP.
- Moorkens (now Alcopa) was the first distribution company in Europe.
- Motorcycles have been sold in Germany since 1969, and automobiles have also been offered on the German market since 1980.
- The GS series is introduced in 1976. The basis is the development of the GS400 as a two-cylinder machine and the GS750D, the first four-cylinder motorcycle from Suzuki. In the same year, the smaller GS550 is added to it.
With the introduction of the four-stroke engines, the two-stroke engines in the large displacement classes were taken out of the range. Only in the lower displacement classes up to 500 cm³ remained two-stroke engines in the range until the 1980s (X5, X7, RG 500). Two-stroke engines are also still produced in the motocross sector.
- With the first quad , the LT 125 , developed in 1982 and launched in 1983, Suzuki pioneered a new market.
- In 1984 Suzuki presented the GSX-R750 at the International Bicycle and Motorcycle Exhibition in Cologne .
- In October 1990 the company name changed to Suzuki KK ( ス ズ キ 株式会社 , Suzuki Motor Corporation ).
At the beginning of 2014, 525,804 Suzuki motorcycles were registered in Germany, which corresponds to a share of 12.97%. Production for the European markets is carried out in Japan, China, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia.
General Motors participation
In 1981 Suzuki agreed a closer cooperation with Isuzu and General Motors (GM). In 2000, GM doubled its stake in Suzuki for $ 653 million to 20%. In 2006, GM reduced this stake to three percent. This remaining stake was sold in November 2008 for $ 230 million. The vehicle that was marketed as the Suzuki Wagon R + and Opel or Vauxhall Agila comes from this close connection .
Suzuki today
.jpg)
There are six production facilities in Japan. Further plants are located in the People's Republic of China , Thailand , Indonesia , India , Pakistan , Spain , Esztergom ( Hungary ) and Egypt . Suzuki has 35 main manufacturing facilities in 24 countries and regions. Around 51,500 people are employed worldwide (as of January 2011).
The SUV models Suzuki Jimny and Suzuki Vitara (under license as Santana 300/350 ) were u. a. manufactured by Santana Motor in Linares , Spain . (The factory was closed in the summer of 2011.) The Suzuki Swift and the Suzuki Ignis were also produced for Subaru until 2007 and sold as Subaru Justy .
In January 2010, VW sealed a minority stake in Suzuki. The VW Group takes over 19.9% of Suzuki, in return Suzuki will receive around 1.9% of the shares in Volkswagen AG for one billion US dollars. Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki ruled out any further participation by VW, as Suzuki should not go under as one of the many brands in the VW group. In August 2011 it was reported that talks about the cooperation between Suzuki and VW came to a standstill and that Suzuki intends to sell the VW shares again.
August 2015, the arbitration tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce in London declared the cooperation between VW and Suzuki to be over, whereupon VW declared that it wanted to return its stake in Suzuki. On September 26, 2015, Suzuki sold its remaining 1.5% stake in Volkswagen to Porsche Automobil Holding SE .
Car models
Suzuki builds many vehicles for other manufacturers, for whom own developments in these mostly rather small segments are not worthwhile.
Current models: Across | Alivio | Alto | Alto Lapin | Baleno | APV | Bandit | Carry | Celerio | Ciaz | Dzire | Ertiga | Escudo | Every | Hustler | Ignis | Jimny | Karimun | Landy | Mega Carry | Solio | S-Presso | Spacia | Swift | SX4 | Vitara | Wagon R + | Xbee | XL6 / XL7
Discontinued / Superseded models: Aerio | Cervo HG | Cultus | Equator | Swift + | Twin | XL7 | Grand Vitara | Grand Vitara XL-7 | Reno | Kei | MR Wagon | Pallet | Esteem | Every + / Landy | Aerio | Kizashi | Liana | Grand Nomad | Sidekick | Vitara | Vitara X-90 | Sierra | SJ / Samurai | Splash | Verona | Forenza | Fun | Cappuccino | Cara | Forsa | LJ 80 | Front 800 | Mighty Boy | Fronts | Cervo | Suzuki Suzulight
Current Maruti Suzuki models: Alivio | Alto 800 | A-Star | Alto K10 | APV | Ertiga | EECO | Celerio | Ciaz | Estilo | Grand Vitara | Gypsy | Kizashi | Cervo | Omni | Ritz | Stingray | Swift | Swift Dzire | SX4 | Vitara | Wagon R
Discontinued / replaced Maruti Suzuki models: Zen | Zen Estilo | Versa | Esteem | 1000 | Maruti 800 | Baleno | Grand Vitara XL-7
Timeline
Car models
.jpg)
Microcar
- Suzuki Alto (since 1979)
- Suzuki Kei (1998–2009; not in Germany)
- Suzuki Lapin (since 2002; not in Germany)
- Suzuki Twin (2003-2005; not in Germany)
- Suzuki Celerio (since 2014)
- Suzuki S-Presso (since 2019; not in Germany)
Small car
- Suzuki Swift (since 1983)
- Suzuki Dzire (since 2008)
- Suzuki Splash (2008-2014; identical to Opel Agila B )
Compact class
- Suzuki Baleno (1995-2001; since 2015)
- Suzuki Liana (2001-2007)
- Suzuki Ciaz (since 2014)
Middle class
- Suzuki Kizashi (since 2009)
Sports car / roadster
- Suzuki Cappuccino (1991-1997)
SUV & SUV
- Suzuki LJ 80 (1978-1982)
- Suzuki SJ 410 (1981-1988)
- Suzuki SJ 413 (1984-1990)
- Suzuki Samurai (1988-2004)
- Suzuki Jimny (since 1998)
- Suzuki Ignis (since 2000)
- Suzuki SX4 (2006-2014; in cooperation with Fiat ; sister model of the Fiat Sedici )
- Suzuki SX4 S-Cross (since 2013)
- Suzuki Vitara (1988-1998)
- Suzuki Vitara X-90 (1996-1997)
- Suzuki Grand Vitara (1998-2015)
- Suzuki Vitara (2015) (since 2015)
- Suzuki XL7 (2006–2009; original part of the name of the Grand Vitara XL-7, from autumn 2006 an independent model)
- Suzuki Equator (2009–2012; not in Germany, identical to the Nissan Frontier )
- Suzuki Hustler (since 2014)
- Suzuki Xbee (since 2018)
- Suzuki XL6 (since 2019)
- Suzuki Across (from 2020)
Vans
- Suzuki Wagon R (1997-2006; from 2000 Wagon R +)
- Suzuki Carry / Super-Carry (since 1961)
- Suzuki Every (since 1982)
- Suzuki APV (since 2004; All Purpose Vehicle, not available in Europe)
- Suzuki Landy (since 2007; sister model of the Nissan Serena and not available in Europe)
- Suzuki range (2008-2013; sister model of the Nissan Roox and not available in Europe)
- Suzuki Ertiga (since 2012)
- Suzuki Spacia / Bandit (since 2013)
Racing cars / prototypes / concept vehicles
- Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak
- Suzuki Cultus Pikes Peak
- Suzuki GSX-R / 4
- Suzuki Kizashi (concept car)
- Suzuki Regina / G70 (concept car)
Motorcycle models
Currently (2020) Suzuki sells models in Germany with the following engines (without competition models and scooters):
| design type | Displacement | Super sport | Naked bike | Sports Tourer | Travel enduros | Cruiser | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R4 | 999 cm³ |
GSX-R 1000 GSX-R 1000 R |
GSX-S 1000 GSX-S 1000 S. |
GSX-S 1000 F | |||
| V2 | 1037 cc |
V-Strom 1050 V-Strom 1050 XT |
|||||
| R4 | 750 cc | GSX-S 750 | |||||
| V2 | 645 cc |
SV 650 SV 650 X |
V-Strom 650 V-Strom 650 XT |
A2 driving license with throttle | |||
| R2 | 248 cc | V-Strom 250 | A2 driving license with throttle | ||||
| R1 | 124 cc | GSX-R 125 | GSX-S 125 | Light motorcycles |
Scooter
Motocross
World title in motorcycle road racing
Motorcycle world championship
In total, Suzuki has won 15 drivers ' and 15 constructors' titles in the motorcycle world championship that has been held since 1949 .
Driver title
Hugh Anderson (4)
Barry Sheene (2)
Ernst Degner (1)
- World champion in the 50 cm³ class: 1962
Dieter Braun (1)
- World champion in the 125 cm³ class: 1970
- World champion in the 500 cm³ class: 1981
Franco Uncini (1)
- World champion in the 500 cm³ class: 1982
Kevin Schwantz (1)
- World champion in the 500 cm³ class: 1993
- World champion in the 500 cm³ class: 2000
Superbike World Championship
All in all, Suzuki has so far been able to achieve a driver's and a constructor's world title in the Superbike World Championship , which has been held since 1988 .
Driver title
Troy Corser (1)
- Superbike World Champion: 2005
World Supersport Championship
All in all, Suzuki has so far been able to achieve a driver's and a constructor's world title in the Supersport World Championship , which has been held since 1999 .
Driver title
Stéphane Chambon (1)
- Supersport world champion: 1999
ATV / Quad products
(chronologically)
- ALT 125 (3-wheeler) from 1983
- LT 125 (4-wheeler) from 1983
- LT 80 (4-wheeler) from 1984
- ALT 185 (3-wheeler) from 1984
- LT 185 (4-wheeler) from 1984
- LT 50 (4-wheeler) from 1985
- LT 230 S (4-wheeler) from 1985
- LT 230 R (4-wheeler) from 1985
- LTF 250 (4-wheeler) from 1985
- LTF 280 (4-wheeler) from ???
- LT 230 G (4-wheeler) from 1986
- LT 230 H (4-wheeler) from 1986
- LT 230 E (4-wheeler) from 1987
- LT 300 E (4-wheeler) from 1991
- LT 300 King Quad (4-wheeler) from ???
- LTF 500 F (4-wheeler) from 1998
- LTV 700 (4-wheeler) from 2004
.jpg)
Current Quad models:
- LTZ 250
- LTZ 400
- LTR 450
- QuadSport Z50
Current ATV models:
- KingQuad 450
- KingQuad LT-A700
- KingQuad LT-A750
literature
- Joachim Kuch, Jürgen Gaßebner: Suzuki. Motorcycles since 1952 , Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-613-02091-2 .
- Joachim Kuch: Suzuki. Motorcycles since 1970 Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-613-02443-8 .
Web links
- Suzuki Germany
- Suzuki Austria
- Suzuki Switzerland
- Suzuki Dealer Association Germany e. V.
- Suzuki driving reports, technical data, tests, background reports, photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ annual report 2011
- ↑ Quarterly Report 2011/3
- ↑ Activity report on alcopa.com
- ↑ kba.de FZ 17 (accessed on April 28, 2015)
- ↑ Conquer Asia with Suzuki . manager magazine. September 14, 2000. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
- ↑ General Motors leaves Suzuki . Handelsblatt. November 17, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
- ↑ We will not become the twelfth Volkswagen brand. Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 9, 2009, accessed on November 17, 2011 .
- ↑ Fiat flatters VW's unfaithful partner Suzuki. Financial Times Deutschland, September 14, 2009, archived from the original on September 27, 2011 ; Retrieved November 17, 2011 .
- ^ Judgment in the dispute between VW and Suzuki. Handelsblatt, August 30, 2015, accessed on August 31, 2015 .
- ↑ http://www.onvista.de/news/porsche-se-erwirbt-von-suzuki-1-5-prozent-stammaktien-der-volkswagen-ag-14284061
- ↑ without team class
Current brands: Acura | Daihatsu | Datsun | Dome | Duesen Bavaria | Honda | Infiniti | Isuzu | Lexus | Mazda | Mitsubishi | Mitsuoka | Nissan | Scion | Subaru | Suzuki | Takeoka | Toyota | Vemac
Former brands: Ales | Asahi | ASL | Atsuta | Autech | Car sandal | Autobacs | Autozam | Chiyoda | Cony | CQ | DAT | Datson | Denka | Ẽfini | Eunos | Fuji | Gorham | Hino | Hopestar | Humbee | Ishikawajima | JAC | Jiotto | Kunisue | Kurogane | Purple | M 2 | Matsuo | Meiwa | Mikasa | Nagoya | Nakajima | Nikkai taro | Nikko | NJ | Ohta | OS | Otomo | Otosantaru | Prince | Raito | Rikuo | Rocco | Roland | Sumida | Suminoe | Suzusho | Takuri | Tama | Teikoku | Tokyo | Tommy Kaira | Toyoda | Toyopet | Tsukuba | Will | Yamaha | Yanase | Yoshida