Suzuki


Suzuki Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines. In 2016, Suzuki was the eleventh biggest automaker by production worldwide.
Suzuki has over 45,000 employees and has 35 production facilities in 23 countries, and 133 distributors in 192 countries. The worldwide sales volume of automobiles is the world's tenth largest, while domestic sales volume is the third largest in the country.
Suzuki's domestic motorcycle sales volume is the third largest in Japan.

History

In 1909, Michio Suzuki founded the Suzuki Loom Works in the small seacoast village of Hamamatsu, Japan. Business boomed as Suzuki built weaving looms for Japan's giant silk industry. In 1929, Michio Suzuki invented a new type of weaving machine, which was exported overseas. The company's first 30 years focused on the development and production of these machines.
Despite the success of his looms, Suzuki believed that his company would benefit from diversification and he began to look at other products. Based on consumer demand, he decided that building a small car would be the most practical new venture. The project began in 1937, and within two years Suzuki had completed several compact prototype cars. These first Suzuki motor vehicles were powered by a then-innovative, liquid-cooled, four-stroke, four-cylinder engine. It had a cast aluminium crankcase and gearbox and generated from a displacement of less than 800 cc.
With the onset of World War II, production plans for Suzuki's new vehicles were halted when the government declared civilian passenger cars a "non-essential commodity." At the conclusion of the war, Suzuki went back to producing looms. Loom production was given a boost when the U.S. government approved the shipping of cotton to Japan. Suzuki's fortunes brightened as orders began to increase from domestic textile manufacturers. But the joy was short-lived as the cotton market collapsed in 1951.
Faced with this colossal challenge, Suzuki returned to the production of motor vehicles. After the war, the Japanese had a great need for affordable, reliable personal transportation. A number of firms began offering "clip-on" petrol-powered engines that could be attached to the typical bicycle. Suzuki's first two-wheeled vehicle was a bicycle fitted with a motor called, the "Power Free." Designed to be inexpensive and simple to build and maintain, the 1952 Power Free had a 36 cc, one horsepower, two-stroke engine. The new double-sprocket gear system enabled the rider to either pedal with the engine assisting, pedal without engine assist, or simply disconnect the pedals and run on engine power alone. The patent office of the new democratic government granted Suzuki a financial subsidy to continue research in motorcycle engineering.
By 1954, Suzuki was producing 6,000 motorcycles per month and his company had officially changed its name to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd. Following the success of his first motorcycles, Suzuki created an even more successful automobile: the 1955 Suzuki Suzulight. The Suzulight sold with front-wheel drive, four-wheel independent suspension and rack-and-pinion steering, which were not common on cars until three decades later.
From 1981 to 1982, Suzuki played a prominent role in setting up the first largely foreign owned car company in India, Maruti Suzuki. Though originally majority-owned by the Indian government, Suzuki, which initially owned 26%, would obtain more shares of Maruti Suzuki in 2003, and later acquire the majority of the India-based subsidiary in 2007.
Volkswagen held a 19.9% non-controlling shareholding in Suzuki between 2009 and 2015. This situation did not last, as Suzuki accused Volkswagen of not sharing promised technology while Volkswagen objected to a deal where Suzuki purchased diesel engines from Fiat. An international arbitration court ordered Volkswagen to sell the stake back to Suzuki. Suzuki paid $3.8bn to complete the stock buy-back in September 2015.
In November 2012, low sales forced Suzuki to closes its branches in the United States.

Leadership

The company was founded by Michio Suzuki. In 1978, the company would be taken over by Osamu Suzuki, the fourth adopted son-in-law in a row to run the company, Osamu Suzuki, the 91 year old Chairman of Suzuki Motor Corporation, retired in June 2021, handing over to his son Toshihiro; Osamu Suzuki, who is credited with building the company into its current status and who also still stayed on as an advisor following his retirement as chairman, died in December 2024.

List of CEOs

  • Michio Suzuki
  • Shunzo Suzuki
  • Jitsujiro Suzuki
  • Osamu Suzuki
  • Masao Toda
  • Hiroshi Tsuda
  • Osamu Suzuki
  • Toshihiro Suzuki

    Timeline

The Suzuki Loom Company started in 1909 as a manufacturer of looms for weaving silk and cotton. Michio Suzuki was intent on making better, more user-friendly looms and, for 30 years his focus was on the development of these machines. Michio's desire to diversify into automotive products was interrupted by World War II. Before it began building four-stroke engines, Suzuki Motor Corp. was known for its two-stroke engines. After the war, Suzuki made a two-stroke motorized bicycle, but eventually the company would be known for Hayabusa and GSX-R motorcycles, for the QuadRunner, and for dominating racetracks around the world. Even after producing its first car in 1955 the company didn't have an automobile division until 1961. Today Suzuki is among the world's largest automakers, and a major brand name in important markets, including Japan and India, but no longer sells cars in Canada and the United States.

1909–1960

  • 1909: Michio Suzuki founds Suzuki Loom Works founded in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
  • 1920: Company is reorganized, incorporated, and capitalized at ¥500,000 as Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. with Michio Suzuki as president.
  • 1937: Suzuki begins a project to diversify into manufacturing small cars. Within two years several innovative prototypes are completed, but the government declares civilian passenger cars a "non-essential commodity" at the onset of World War II, thwarting production plans.
  • 1940: Takatsuka Plant is built in Kami-mura, Hamana-gun, Shizuoka, Japan.
  • 1945: Plants close due to severe war damage. Company offices move to the Takatsuka Plant site.
  • 1947: Head office moves to the present address.
  • 1949: Company lists on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya Stock Exchanges.
  • 1950: Company has financial crisis due to labor difficulties.
  • 1952: "Power Free" motorized bicycle marketed.
  • 1953: Introduction of Diamond Free 60 cc, 2-cycle motorized bicycle, displacement subsequently increases to 70 cc.
  • 1954: Company name changed to Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd.
  • 1955: Introduction of Colleda COX 125 cc 4-stroke single-cylinder, and Colleda ST 125 cc, two-stroke single-cylinder motorcycles.
  • * Suzulight front wheel drive car introduced at the start of Japan's minivehicle age.
  • 1957: Michio Suzuki designated as adviser, and his son Shunzo Suzuki appointed company president.
  • 1958: S mark adopted as corporate emblem.
  • 1959: Launch of Colleda Sel Twin 125 cc, two-stroke motorcycle with electric starter.
  • * Introduction of all-new Suzulight TL 360 cc light commercial, two-stroke minivehicle.
  • * 26 September, Typhoon Vera destroys Suzuki's assembly plant.
  • 1960: In March Suzuki's new modern assembly line plant is finished.
  • *Suzuki enter a motorcycle race team into Grands Prix under the manufacturing name Colleda with riders Toshio Matsumoto, Michio Ichino and Ray Fay, placing 15th, 16th, and 18th in Isle of Man TT races.

    1961–1969

  • 1961: Separation of the loom machine division from the motor company, as Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co.
  • *Suzuki enter race motorcycles of RT61 125 cc and RV61 250 cc into Grands Prix under the Suzuki name with two riders from the team of Mitsuo Itoh, Michio Ichino, Sadao Masuda, Toshio Matsumoto, Paddy Driver, Hugh Anderson and Alastair King placing 10th and 12th in 250 cc Isle of Man TT races.
  • *Production of the Suzulight Carry 360 cc, two-stroke lightweight truck begins at new plant in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
  • 1962: First victory in the inaugural season of 50 cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing comes at the end of a three-way battle between Suzuki, Honda and Kreidler at the Isle of Man TT. The winning RM62 machine was ridden by Ernst Degner who had defected from the East German MZ team to Suzuki the previous year.
  • 1963: Mitsuo Itoh makes history as the first Japanese rider to win the Isle of Man TT, when he takes the lead on the last lap of the 50 cc race after Suzuki teammate Degner breaks down. Suzuki wins both the rider's and manufacturer's championships, in both 50 cc and 125 cc classes, for this season of World Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
  • * Subsidiary company opens in Los Angeles, to enter the American motorcycle market, as U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp.
  • 1965: Enters outboard motor market with the launch of D55 5.5 hp, two-stroke engine.
  • * Introduction of Fronte 800 two-stroke subcompact passenger vehicle.
  • * T20 motorcycle introduced as "the fastest 250cc motorcycle in the world", aimed at the US market but gets worldwide attention.
  • 1967: Thailand gets the first motorcycle assembly plant outside Japan, creating Thai Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd.
  • * Automobile plant built in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan.
  • * Debut of Fronte 360 cc, two-stroke minivehicle.
  • 1968: After a winning 1967 season, the Suzuki motorcycle race team withdraws from World Grand Prix due to changes in FIM rules. Hans-Georg Anscheidt rides a 1967 machine in 1968 as a privateer, for the seventh season of Suzuki GP championships.
  • * Introduction of Carry Van 360 cc, two-stroke minivan with a full cab over design.
  • * Launch of T500 motorcycle with an air-cooled parallel-twin 500 cc engine, the largest displacement of any two-stroke at the time.
  • 1969: Motorcycle plant built in Oyabe, Toyama, Japan.