25 production models

60 discontinued models

history

Suzuki is surely one of the most popular motorcycle manufacturing companies in the world but it's also an important automobile manufacturer, having no less than 45,000 employees in 23 countries. The company managed to establish an impressive dealership network in 192 countries around the world and 133 distributors.

Getting back to the Suzuki history, it all started in 1909 when Michio Suzuki founded his own company named Suzuki Loom Company. In case you're wondering what's with this name, find out that Suzuki was initially a company which produced weaving looms for the Japanese market. Suzuki's business went pretty well as in 1929, the company exported its first product overseas. However, the company was renamed in 1920 to Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. and Michio Suzuki was named the president of the company.

Since the company was continuously growing up, Michio Suzuki decided to expand the market coverage so in 1939, he started designing small cars. Two years later, the company already owned multiple prototypes, most of them based on four-cylinder engines based on liquid cooling systems.

Talking about the motorcycles it produced, Suzuki rolled out its first bike in 1952, a vehicle which looked like a simple bicycle but equipped with an engine. Two years later, the company gave the first sign that the motorcycle industry becomes more attractive, so it changed its name to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. One year later, the newly-renamed firm released the Colleda, a motorcycle equipped with a side valve engine with a single cylinder which produced 4 horsepower. Moreover, the bike came with a three speed gearbox and telescopic front forks.

Although the motorcycle industry was pretty much the main object of activity for the Japanese company, Suzuki rolled out the Suzukilight car in 1955, a lightweight vehicle which had a displacement of 360cc.

Since the growth in the motorcycle market was obvious, Suzuki decided in 1961 to form a new division called Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. that would be responsible for the manufacturing of weaving looms.

One year later, Suzuki recorded the first major success in racing competitions as it managed to won the 50cc class of the Isle of Man TT. Meanwhile, the Suzuki executives struggled to expand the company into other markets so a new subsidiary was opened in Los Angeles in 1963 which was especially supposed to help it reach new consumers in the United States.

During the 1970s, Suzuki managed to build an impressive number of motorcycles, including the GT750 in 1971 and the GS series in 1976. Moreover, the company started exporting the GS1000H into different countries around the world, a move which could obviously help the Japanese company attract more customers.

Although Suzuki continued releasing vehicles during the 80s, including the Gemma 50cc scooter, the GSX750S motorcycle, the LT125 ATV or the Swift passenger car, the company also managed to establish new offices and R&D centers in multiple locations, including in India, France, Spain and Colombia. Moreover, Suzuki signed important agreements with General Motors Corp and Isuzu Motors in 1981.

In 1990, Suzuki decided to change its name to Suzuki Motor Corporation, but the newly-renamed company continued to release new models of cars and motorcycles. For instance, Suzuki rolled out both the Wagon R+ and the Every- in 1999. In addition, the company provided some statistics that did nothing more than to support the statement that Suzuki had an impressive growth since it first appeared on the market: the Japan sales reached 10 million units in 1994 while in 1995, the total number of exported motorcycles reached 20 million units.

In 2000, the company celebrated its 80th anniversary since it first appeared on the market under the Suzuki Loom Manufacturing brand. Besides that, Suzuki introduced a brand new 250cc bike, dubbed Grass Tracker, and continued its strategic alliance with General Motors by starting building automobiles at the Argentinean subsidiary of the American company. During the same year, Suzuki won the World Grand Prix 500 Championship.

In the last few years, Suzuki simply continued to grow up and added new vehicles to its catalog. For instance, it rolled out the GSR 400 sport motorcycle, it introduced a new SUV dubbed SX4 in the Japanese market and brought the XL7 and the SX4 in North America.

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