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Suzuki shows weird, wonderful trio of concepts in Tokyo

Suzuki brought a whole mess of intriguing little runabouts to the Tokyo Motor Show this year. And though the Japanese automaker no longer participates (at least with its four-wheel automobiles) in the North American market, we didn't want to miss the opportunity to check out its latest oddities, and capture them for your Nipponophilic amusement. The one that caught our attention the most on the Suzuki stand this year is the Mighty Deck. The little yellow minicar features a canvas roof, an open rear cargo bed, and a genuinely delighted look on its face. Though it strikes us as about as useful as an umbrella in a snow storm, we really dig the stylistic combination of new materials and old, the rugged with the approachable, and of course the tiny size that could only come from the densely packed island nation. We're not exactly longing for the return of the Suzuki X90, but we'd love a new version to look like this Mighty Deck. Joining the Mighty Deck is the equally unusual Air Triser, a concept that aims to put the "mini" back in minivan. Though clearly designed for the crowded streets of Tokyo, the Air Triser manages to squeeze three rows of seats into its compact footprint. Maximizing ingress, egress, and interior volume, the engine (surely displacing about as much as a bottle of bubble tea) is pushed all the way into the front, with pillarless side portals consisting of opposing sliding doors. Its shoulders may be high, but the interior appears light and airy, with four individual buckets floating atop the flat wood floor ahead of a rear bench, all uninterrupted by consoles or excessive clutter. Though clearly much smaller than what we'd call a minivan on our side of the Pacific, designs like these make us wonder if we really need our family haulers as big as they are. Though there were plenty of other production JDM curiosities on the Suzuki stand, the last concept that caught out eye is the Ignis Trail. The ruggedized soft-road hatchback combines rounded styling with beefed-up wheel arches packed with (relatively) large rolling stock, rack rails on a black roof, and anodized red accents inside and out to offset the white and black color scheme. Scope out the trio in our gallery of live images from the Tokyo Motor Show.

Suzuki's Paris display is a sad reminder we don't get quirky little Japanese cars anymore

The fun thing about foreign auto shows is getting to see all the cars we don't get at home. In the case of Suzuki, it's a reminder that the brand withered in the US and withdrew due to a lack of product a few years back. What makes it even tougher is that Suzuki's stand in Paris is full of little all-wheel-drive things that would probably do really well in the US now. Talk about bad timing. Take the Ignis above. This thing is about the size of a Mazda CX-3, offers all-wheel drive, and manages to look cute and sophisticated at the same time. Americans would buy it. The SX4 S-Cross, which evolved from the SX4 that did surprisingly well a decade ago in the US, gets an update this year and looks a lot more like a crossover, an improvement on the original funky tall-hatch design. If only Suzuki could have held on a little longer the brand might be taking some sales from Subaru and the many makers of little crossovers. We can't leave here without mentioning the wonderful beigeness of the Cervo hatch that Suzuki brought out to tie the Ignis in with its heritage. It's a rear-engined three-cylinder two-stroke with a Giugiaro-designed body. Yep. The model was never sold in the US, but it was known as the Whizzkid in the UK, which is just fantastic. And its adorable tiny wheels – they looked like 12s or so – are pretty highly stylized. They're actually mirrored by the five-pocket wheels available on the Ignis, which is a nice touch. Related Gallery 2017 Suzuki Ignis: Paris 2016 View 13 Photos Related Gallery 2017 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross: Paris 2016 View 10 Photos Paris Motor Show Suzuki Crossover 2016 paris motor show suzuki ignis

Toyota, Daihatsu and Suzuki team up to unbox some fun-size electric kei vans

The G7 Summit is happening in Hiroshima, Japan, right now and some automakers have taken the opportunity to announce new projects. Toyota, their wholly owned subsidiary Daihatsu, and Suzuki (of which Toyota owns about 5%) made news with a trio of electric micro-vans built to kei car specifications. The battery-electric vans are part of an industry-wide push toward carbon neutrality. Kei-class vehicles, in addition to limited displacement gasoline engines, have strict dimensional restrictions that allow them to navigate the often narrow streets in dense urban areas. They're also privilege to certain tax breaks and parking benefits.  [gallery ids="2474953,2474954"] The engine size rules obviously don't apply to the electric vans, but they will still conform to the size boundaries. Kei vans are often used to solve the "last mile" problem in logistics since they're able to whiz around crowded streets inaccessible by larger commercial vehicles.  Daihatsu, which specializes in kei cars, will build the vans and name their variant the HiJet Cargo. The HiJet name has been a consistent one in the company's lineup since 1960, but these new versions will be front-wheel-drive in contrast to the rear-wheel-drive gasoline variants. Toyota's version will be called the Pixis Van, while Suzuki will be named the Every, a nameplate that's been around since 1982. Aside from the badges the vans appear identical. Range is said to be approximately 200km (124 miles) on a single charge.  The exhibition was held in conjunction with the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, which former Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda heads. Toyoda stepped down from the top position at the company his grandfather founded in April, but still takes a overseer role as Chairman. Toyoda was criticized for being slow to adopt EVs, and new CEO Koji Sato has emphasized the role of battery-electrics moving forward while still taking a multi-front approach to carbon neutrality with hydrogen and hybrids. These vans were likely in development before Toyoda's retirement, though.