Suzuki to delay next-geneartion Swift arrival to the U.S.

August 30, 2010 Omar Rana Compact Cars, Suzuki Swift

Originally pulled from the U.S. market after the 2001 model year, the Suzuki Swift was set to relaunch stateside this fall, but that has been debunked. Instead, Suzuki will plan to relaunch the car next year, and in the interim, work on a global product strategy with Volkswagen AG. The growing strength of the yen against the dollar is also of concern. Currently the Swift is only available in Europe and Japan.

Swift engineering for the U.S. market is almost complete, but how the car will fit in to the new global strategy remains to be seen. “At the moment, if the exchange rate continues like it is, we couldn’t expect very much profit,” spokesman Takuma Mizuyoshi said. “So that’s a concern right now.”

American marketing of the car has suffered tremendously, as that was the first area in which the Suzuki brass saw it fit to compensate for the rising rate in currency. Despite topping 100,000 units in “06 and “07, sales were 38,689 in 2009, and have fallen 48% this year.