Suzuki

The Second World War delayed Michio Suzuki’s plan to diversify from silk-weaving looms to cars, and the first motorised offering was 1952’s Power Free engine-assisted bicycle. Suzuki Motor Corporation was born just two years later, and its first car – the 1955 Suzulight – coincided with the start of Japan’s “Kei-class” era of minicars that could qualify for lower taxes and insurance costs. Its future pint-sized offerings under the Kei regulations would find success overseas with the likes of the 1970 LJ10 that eventually became the Jimny, the 1979 SC100 coupe, the much-loved Cappuccino drop-top of 1991, and 1993’s “tallboy” Wagon R. The latter was one of the joint developments formed with General Motors, a partnership that would also see Suzuki vehicles badged as Chevrolets in the US and models such as the Ignis badged as a Holden in Australia. The 2000 Swift became another small-car success story for Suzuki, though it also expanded into bigger vehicle segments with the Grand Vitara SUV (2000) and Kizashi medium car (2009).