Brief History About Suzuki
Suzuki Motor Corporation was founded in 1909 as Suzuki Loom Works in Japan by Michio Suzuki. Originally Suzuki built weaving looms, but then wanted to diversify and moved onto automobile manufacturing, which included cars, motorcycles, marine engines and more.
Suzuki first looked at building cars in 1937, but it was mostly prototyping. When the 2nd world war broke out, Suzuki went back to building looms. The next stage in the automotive business was after the war in 1952. Cheap transport was needed, so Suzuki built a bicycle with an engine attached, leading onto the production of motorcycles. In 1955 Suzuki decided to build its first real production car, the Suzuki Suzulight.
In 1960 Suzuki gets involved in motorcycle racing with entries in the Grand Prix and have continued to be successful with many motorcycle race victories. Also during the 60’s Suzuki build more diverse types of vehicles including vans.
In 1970 they introduced the ‘off-road’ Jimmy, having purchased a 4×4 company in 1968, which startied their foray into the 4×4 market.
In the 80’s and 90’s Suzuki expanded further a field and also formed several partnerships with other car makers throughout the world, including GM, Isuzu and Daewoo. The mainstay of Suzuki Motors is its development of mostly compact vehicles whether that be cars, 4×4’s or vans.
During the new millennium, Suzuki continue to expand, forming more partnerships and joint ventures, including working with Fiat and Volkswagen. However all was not good, as car sales, manufacturing and partnerships are reduced during 2011-2013, mostly within the USA and Canada.
