Suzuki Model History

Japan · founded 1909

Japan's kei-car and compact-SUV specialist — maker of the Jimny, Swift, and Vitara, with a storied motorcycle division and dominant presence through India's Maruti Suzuki.

Models

Jimny

A tiny, go-anywhere 4x4 produced since 1970 — four generations of the same pure-off-road formula in an ever-smaller package.

Compact SUV · 1970–present
Samurai

Suzuki's US-market entry: a tiny, affordable 4x4 convertible that set first-year import records before a Consumer Reports rollover controversy ended its run.

Compact SUV · 1986–1995
Sidekick

A more refined, larger companion to the Samurai for the US market — introduced for 1989, later gaining a four-door option and the sporting Sidekick Sport.

Compact SUV · 1989–1998
Grand Vitara

The grown-up successor to the Sidekick — Suzuki's mainstay compact SUV in the US for 14 years, the last Suzuki SUV sold in America.

Compact SUV · 1999–2013
Alto

Suzuki's legendary kei car — the best-selling Suzuki model worldwide, a pioneer of the ultra-budget microcar category since 1979.

City car · 1979–present
Swift

A global supermini that began as the Cultus — one of Suzuki's longest-running and most successful international nameplates, with a spirited Sport variant.

Subcompact car · 1983–present
Aerio

A budget compact hatchback/sedan notable for offering all-wheel drive at a lower price than any competitor in the early 2000s US market.

Compact car · 2002–2007
Esteem

Suzuki's compact sedan/wagon of the late 1990s (known globally as the Baleno) — the North American replacement for the Swift sedan.

Compact car · 1995–2002
Forenza

A rebadged Daewoo Lacetti — Suzuki's budget compact of the mid-2000s US market, badge-engineered through GM's Daewoo acquisition.

Compact car · 2004–2008
Verona

A rebadged Daewoo Magnus mid-size sedan — Suzuki's brief, GM-facilitated attempt at an entry-level near-luxury car for the US market.

Mid-size car · 2004–2006
SX4

A compact crossover co-developed with Fiat, offered in hatchback and sedan forms — Suzuki's last genuinely new product in the US before its 2012 exit.

Compact crossover · 2007–2013
Kizashi

Suzuki's sportiest and most ambitious US sedan — a 185-hp compact/mid-size with optional AWD and manual transmission, the brand's swan song in America.

Mid-size car · 2010–2013
Equator

A rebadged Nissan Frontier — Suzuki's only pickup truck for the US market, sold for four low-volume years.

Mid-size pickup truck · 2009–2012
Carry

A long-running kei truck/van sold continuously since 1961 — Japan's workhouse micro-commercial vehicle, never officially sold new in the US.

Kei truck · 1961–present

Other makes