Suzuki is getting bigger, while everyone else is going smaller

Over the past few weeks we have seen company after company go for the manufacture smaller cars, especially in the US where truck sales are dropping. Nevertheless, Suzuki seems to be doing just the opposite. Despite the fall in truck sales, Suzuki has started introducing their own pickup trucks to the US. It seems to me that there is someone in a boardroom in Japan saying, "It's just crazy enough to work!"

The first car they will introduce to the US in 2009 us the Equator compact pickup truck, which will be built for them in the US by Nissan. In 2010 they will introduce an as of yet unnamed (in the US) midsize car, which will feature the Malibu's 3.6 litre engine and Suzuki's all wheel drive. The next car to make an appearance, or to be more exact, a reappearance, will be the Suzuki swift in 2011, which left buyers unimpressed the first time round. However, this time it will be available with a 1.6 litre engine and 124 horse power.

Hats off to Suzuki for a bold move, but is it the right move? With the declining sales in the truck and pickup truck market, is it viable for Suzuki to try and sell what no one is buying at the moment? It might be, if they know something we don't and truck sales pick up (no pun intended) in the next couple of years.

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