American Suzuki Begins New Year With Top Honors

Automaker Receives Environmental, Product and Dealership Design Awards

BREA, Calif. (January 21, 2004) - On the heels of last year's launch of the Verona midsize sedan and Forenza premium compact sedan and this year's debut of the 2005 Reno five-door crossover vehicle at the Detroit auto show, American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) starts the new year on a high note by accepting a variety of awards including the Automotive Market Environmental Superiority (AMES) Award and vehicle performance Annual Light Truck And SUV (ALTAS) Award for the Suzuki XL-7, and the esteemed Institute of Store Planners and Visual Merchandising And Store Design's (ISP+VSMD) Interior Design Award for the Suzuki Square Retail Image Program. By achieving excellence in these varied areas - from environmental performance to superior product value to welcoming dealership design - Suzuki continues to move further into the automotive mainstream and onto buyers' shopping lists.

For the fifth consecutive year Suzuki has been honored with an AMES Award. This year, the Suzuki XL-7 earned the Award for having a superior environmental performance index than competitive models in AMES' midsize SUV class. The AMES Award quantitative evaluation criteria is based on the life cycle impact of a vehicle on the environment. The most significant elements are regulated emissions and non-regulated emissions related to a vehicle's fuel economy. Using the same certified data supplied by automakers to the Environmental Protection Agency to establish regulatory compliance, AMES calculates individual environmental performance index for over 250 models available for sale in the US. For more information, go to www.amesaward.com.

The Suzuki XL-7 also received top honors for the third consecutive year from the Sport Truck Connection's ALTAS Award in their compact SUV category. The Award honors the staff's favorite vehicle of the ones they evaluated in the past year. The ALTAS Award is based on how a vehicle performs in its intended function - the way that most owners would use their vehicle - rather than criteria based on "race track" performance. The XL-7 was one of seven automobile models honored by Sport Truck Connection in 2003, and the only model awarded in the compact SUV category. For more information, go to www.stconnection.com/2003_altas_awards.htm.

For the first time ever, American Suzuki received ISP+VMSD's International Store Interior Design Competition Award of Merit for the Suzuki Square Retail Image Program that was launched in 2003 to provide Suzuki dealerships with a consistent, professional and easily identifiable look and environment. Suzuki Square has the feeling of an open-air market that's inviting, friendly and colorful. The Award recognizes retailers who create an effective interior design that appeals to customers and reinforces branding messages during the purchasing experience. For more information, go to www.ispo.org.


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