Suzuki Swift will return to U.S.
Rick Kranz | Automotive News
NEW YORK -- A reborn Suzuki Swift will return to the United States around 2010, the company says.
U.S. buyers remember the Swift, dropped in 2003, as a four-cylinder econobox. But now the Swift is a high-performance hatchback sold in Europe and Japan. The next-generation model would be sold in the United States.
"The Swift is known as a pocket rocket internationally, and that is the type of product we want here," said Gene Brown, marketing director of American Suzuki Motor Corp. The car is about the size of the Mini.
Other new products coming to Suzuki by 2011 are the 2008 SX4 sedan, which goes on sale this fall; a Nissan-based pickup that arrives next year; and two unnamed vehicles. Brown said Suzuki will drop the Aerio wagon in 2008.
The pickup will be based on the Nissan Frontier. Brown didn't give product details but praised the possibility of a crew cab. "We think the crew cab is an important market," he said at the New York auto show.
