Suzuki approaching its centennial celebration

Jul 27

Suzuki Centennial Celebration - Click above for high-res image gallery

It seems that 1909 was a popular year for automakers to begin appearing on the world stage. To wit, Audi and Bugatti are both planning their centenary celebrations in ‘09 - not to mention the recent 100-year anniversaries for American automakers such as Ford and General Motors. Add Suzuki to this growing list, though the Japanese company followed a more roundabout path to its current position on the global automotive stage.

The history of Suzuki’s first 100 yearsreads like a storybook rags-to-riches story, as a young Michio Suzuki, a loom-maker from Hamamatsu, Japan, decided to tackle the problem of producing fabrics with both vertical and horizontal stripes. From these humble beginnings sprung the Suzuki Loom Company, which, in turn, began producing small engines to adapt bicycles into motorized vehicles in 1952.

A few years later, Suzuki’s first automobile, the Suzilight, hit the market with a 360cc two-stroke engine and innovations like front-wheel-drive and four-wheel independent suspension. By 1989, Suzuki was overseeing the production of over 10 million cars per year through its own factories and its many global partnerships.

Today, Suzuki is a recognized global leader in Japanese kei cars and motorcycles, while its SX4, Swift and Splash are fully competitive vehicles in their respective segments. According to the Japanese automaker, the future will bring environmentally beneficial advancements, including the debuts of stop/start and variable valve timing at the Geneva Motor Show. Gazing a bit further into the crystal ball, hydrogen fuel cell technology is also in the works.

Click past the break for a more detailed look back at Suzuki’s last 100 years and follow along in our image gallery below.

Gallery: Suzuki Centenary Celebration