1987 Suzuki Samurai on 2040-cars

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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.

American Suzuki gets $100M in financing to go out of business... buy more cars?

American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC), which declared bankruptcy in early November, has been approved by the courts for up to $100 million in debtor-in-possession financing to enable it to shutter its US car business. ASMC had received a $45 million loan from the Japanese parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), last month in order to make repayment deals with its franchise dealers. At the same time, ASMC was awaiting final court approval of this larger loan.
Out of the newly approved funds, $50 million can be used for operations, and oddly, the other $50 million can be put toward purchases of new inventory from SMC. That's right, even as existing inventory was headed for a smooth exit with the help of incentives, customer demand for orphan Suzuki models is so strong - last month's sales were up 22 percent compared to 2011 - that ASMC plans to purchase 2,500 additional cars from SMC that were built after the bankruptcy announcement. Good news for the owners of those vehicles: the top 50 dealers, representing more than 98 percent of ASMC sales, will become parts and services centers.
The press release below has more information. Unlike its recent tenure here, the end of Suzuki cars in the US looks like it's going rather well.

Suzuki Jimny Black Bison is real, looks ready to stomp on other off-roaders

The internet darling Suzuki Jimny strikes again, except this time it's considerably less cute in the Wald Black Bison getup. We drove the little SUV late last year and found it to be good, rollicking fun, but this modified version looks like the little ute's foil. Mechanically, the Jimny Black Bison is similar to the normal Jimny. This means it has a 1.5-liter four-cylinder that makes all of 99 horsepower and 95 pound-feet of torque. Yep, that probably wouldn't fly in the U.S. The G-Wagen appearance absolutely would, though. A lift and side-exit exhaust appear to be the most obvious modifications we can see from the photos. The exhaust looks like a page straight out of AMG's playbook for the G-Wagen. Wald has added more than a few extra body parts to make this off-roader look unique. It starts with the aggressive tire and wheel setup, which in turn requires the huge fenders. This gives the Jimny its super aggressive stance you see here. A new front and rear bumper, plus grille, ensure it doesn't look disjointed as a whole. If you like lights, you have plenty of them to choose from here. Additional LEDs are mounted in the lower bumper area, and a couple banks of roof lights are equipped to light the trail ahead. The hood has two massive nostrils that surely aren't necessary for the little engine underneath, but we recognize the commitment to the theme. Finally, there's a roof spoiler that extends higher than any roof spoiler needs to from a car with a top speed of 90 mph. We imagine all the extra bits lower the top speed even further on the Black Bison. No word yet on availability of the Suzuki Jimny Black Bison edition. This vehicle was revealed at the Osaka Auto Messe by Wald, so it's not an official Suzuki vehicle by any means. It would be neat to see the full conversion kit offered to Suzuki owners, but individual sale of the parts is the most likely scenario. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.