Suzuki makes it to a century

Tuesday, 17 March 2020

As of Sunday, Suzuki is a century old.

It was on March 15, 1920 that Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Company was founded by Michio Suzuki. Since then, Suzuki has expanded its business from looms to motorcycles, automobiles, outboard motors and ATV's, always adapting to the trend of the times as well as domestic and global markets.

The first motorcycle to come from Suzuki's halls was the Power Free in 1952, a 36cc motorised pedal bicycle. It made 0.7kW and came from Shunzo Suzuki, a director at the time.

Hamamatsu, where Suzuki's HQ was located, has strong seasonal winds that make it difficult to cycle when there is headwind. He would ride his bicycle to work and to go fishing, but thought 'it would be so much easier if this bike had an engine…'

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As a way to showcase the Suzuki Fronte 800's high performance credentials, Stirling Moss and Mitsuo Ito drove one more than 750 kilometres from Milan to Naples at an average speed of 122.4kmh.

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Of course, Suzuki is well-known in the two-wheeled world as well. It has multiple wins in races like the Isle of Man TT, the motorcycling 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Grand Prix World Championship.

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If you like small cars, you're probably familiar with this, the Wagon R. For a long time it was the best-selling kei car in Japan and has sold well over 5 million units.

The Power Free was joined by the more powerful Diamond Free in 1953. It more than doubled the output, offering 1.5kW and sales were good from the very beginning.

In the autumn of the same year, its volume largely exceeded expectations, achieving 150 per cent of the projected monthly production.

Since 2004, the Swift has been hovering at the top of the sales charts. Suzuki New Zealand shifted more than 2700 Swifts over 2019.

After changing its name to Suzuki Motor Co. Ltd in 1954, Suzuki launched the Suzulight, the first mass-produced mini vehicle in Japan and Suzuki's entry into the automobile market.

It came in three body shapes, a sedan (which was quickly axed), a pick-up and a light van. In 1955 a larger Delivery Van was added to the line-up.

The Fronte debuted in 1962 as a sedan version of the Suzulight. After a few years, Suzuki revealed the Fronte 800, named after its front-drive architecture and the first four-wheeled vehicle to be sold under the Suzuki name rather than Suzulight.

As a way to showcase the 800's high performance credentials, Stirling Moss and Mitsuo Ito drove one more than 750 kilometres from Milan to Naples at an average speed of 122.4kmh.

The company name was changed to 'Suzuki Motor Corporation' in 1990 in view of its business expansion and globalisation.

Along the way, Suzuki took victories at the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race, the two-wheeled 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as multiple title wins in the motorcycling Grand Prix world championship.

As we moved into the 2000s, Suzuki introduced the world's fastest motorbike in the form of the Hayabusa, debuted the cute-yet-awesome Wagon R and began selling the wildly popular Swift hatchback.

To put its success into perspective, over the whole of last year, Suzuki New Zealand shifted more than 2700 Swifts over 2019, compared to 486 Jimnys and 1363 Vitaras.

Director and Chairman, Osamu Suzuki and Director and President, Toshihiro Suzuki said: 'All members of Suzuki Motor Corporation take this as an important milestone to reaffirm the founder's philosophy of 'focusing on customers' and strive to deliver products to our customers across the globe.

'Your kind support is truly the greatest factor that has enabled us to always be close to our customers' daily lives and achieve our commemorative 100th anniversary.

'We sincerely appreciate your continuous support.'