Suzuki Commemorates First Century

Written by Johnathan Bodily

Import - Suzuki

BREA, Calif. - Born during Japan’s first phase of industrialization as a market innovator in the burgeoning loom industry, the Hamamatsu, Japan-based Suzuki Loom Works was founded by the 22-year old Michio Suzuki in 1909. As millions in the West took to the roads, and a very few had already taken to the air, Japanese society began the transition from a largely agrarian economy to one based on manufacture. What would become a tradition of innovative design and quality construction began – even then – as hallmarks of Suzuki product.

With the very real need for personal mobility in the 1950s, Suzuki directed its technical expertise to the production of two-wheel transport, beginning with the Power Free motorized bicycle in 1952, and followed by the 60cc Diamond Free – its first true motorcycle – in 1953. Suzuki’s first mass-produced car, the 360cc Suzulight, was introduced to the Japanese market in 1955.

With a century of innovation there are, of course, some achievements more notable than others. In 1962, Suzuki took the 50cc class championship at the Isle of Man, just three years after first entering the British classic. Suzuki’s first outboard motor came in 1965, and the first SUV designed for the Japanese market – the Suzuki Jimny – came but five years later. More recently, the GSX-R 750, launched in 1985, redefined the high-performance sportbike in markets throughout the world.

In 1985, Suzuki entered the U.S. automotive market with the spectacularly successful launch of its on-road/off-road Samurai, and sealed its North American association four years later with the establishment of CAMI Automotive, an automotive assembly facility owned in partnership with General Motors.

With one full century behind it, Suzuki enters its second hundred years with the global launch of Kizashi, a fully Japanese take on European design and engineering. With an on-sale date of December 2009, the Kizashi provides Suzuki – already well established as a manufacturer of small cars in global markets from Hamamatsu to Hungary – the opportunity to fully establish a presence in North America, the world’s largest automotive marketplace.

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