1988 Suzuki Samurai Ja Sport Utility 2-door 1.3l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Which automaker's 84-year-old CEO is making investors nervous?

We haven't heard much about Suzuki since it decided to leave the US market in 2012, but things are going well for the little automaker these days with the recent announcement of record annual profits. It would seem that investors should be ecstatic, but they are starting to question the man at the helm. Company president and chairman Osamu Suzuki is now 84 years old and is guaranteed at least one more year as the leader, but shareholders want to know who is taking his place when the inevitable happens.
We're not being ageist, here. As long as the Suzuki can run the company to the satisfaction of investors, he absolutely deserves the top spot. According to Bloomberg, the issue making shareholders so edgy is that the business doesn't have a transition plan in place. The president obviously isn't a young man, and folks are worried that if something happens suddenly, there could be chaos deciding a successor and a free-falling stock price.
Suzuki's tenure at the company is somewhat astounding. He married the granddaughter of the founder and took her name because the family had no male heirs. In world where many people hope to retire as soon as possible, he's worked for the same automaker for the last 50 years, including stints as company president from 1978 to 2000 and 2008 to the present. Investors aren't questioning the president's ability as a business leader; they just want a clearer understanding of the automaker's future direction.

Suzuki ending auto sales in Canada, too

Suzuki of Japan has reportedly made the decision that almost everyone assumed it would make when it announced it was leaving the US market: when the 2014 model year concludes, it will no longer sell cars in Canada. With six employees overseeing its auto business in Canada and a dealer network that has shrunk to 55 outlets in the country, we can't say we're shocked.
At the time of the US announcement, however, the senior VP of sales and marketing in the automotive division of Suzuki Canada said it would be able to survive on its own because, among other reasons, Canadians prefer smaller, more fuel-efficient cars that fit the company's offerings. Five months later, after some time to think about a 30-percent drop in sales to open up 2013 instead of the 1.4-percent increase in sales that Suzuki Canada posted last year, things have evidently changed.
The Globe and Mail reports that as is in the US, Suzuki's motorcycle, ATV and marine divisions in Canada will remain.

It's a hard knock life for a N"urburgring rental car

Rental cars get no respect. They're abused, misused and flogged mercilessly as athletes in Rental Car Olympics. And that's just at your everyday airport rental counter. The torture gets extreme for rental cars thrashed around Germany's infamous Nürburgring.
Rent4Ring expects its customers to drive its cars around the 'Ring with enthusiasm and, in some cases, less skill than the pros. Rent4Ring just recently retired its Suzuki Swift Sport from its fleet and shared the car's two-year-plus lifetime highlights.
The little hatchback made more than 2,800 laps of the 'Ring over three seasons amounting to more than 310,000 miles driven by 457 different drivers. "Some were fast, some were slow. Some were nice to the car, a few were frankly awful," says a Rent4Ring rep.