Keema News - Mar 2009

In its 100 year history, Suzuki has developed an outstanding reputation for manufacturing a range of cars, 4WDs, motorcycles and marine products offering excellent value for money and exceptional reliability.

Continually striving to improve the breed through competition motorsport, Suzuki has racked up a string of world titles on two and four wheels and is now one of the 10 largest automotive manufacturers on the planet.

However, like most great companies, Suzukis genesis was humble in both size and operation.

In 1909, Michio Suzuki founded the Suzuki Loom Company in the small seacoast village of Hamamatsu, Japan. Business boomed as Suzuki built weaving looms for Japan's giant silk industry. Suzuki's only desire was to build better, more user-friendly looms and, for the first 30 years of the company's existence, its focus was on the development and production of these exceptionally complex machines.

Despite the success of his looms, Michio realized his company had to diversify and he began to look at other products.

Based on consumer demand, he decided that building a small car would be the most practical new venture. The project began in 1937, and within two years Suzuki had completed several compact prototype cars.

These first Suzuki motor vehicles were powered by a then-innovative, liquid-cooled, four-stroke, four-cylinder engine. It featured a cast aluminum crankcase and gearbox and generated 13 horsepower from a displacement of less than 800cc.

With the onset of World War II, production plans for Suzuki's new vehicles were halted when the government declared civilian passenger cars a "non-essential commodity."

After the war, Suzuki went back to its roots. Loom production was given a boost when the US government approved the shipping of cotton to Japan and Suzuki's fortunes brightened as orders began to increase from domestic textile manufacturers. But the joy was short-lived as the cotton market collapsed in 1951.

A motor corporation is born.

See Keema Brisbane's range of Suzuki cars.

Article courtesy of Suzuki Australia.

Hyundai Motor Company's Sonata 2.4 petrol engine now achieves a 4.5 star Green Vehicle Guide (GVG) rating.

Minor modifications were implemented in December 2008 production, further reducing emissions and resulting in an improved air pollution rating - this has boosted the overall score.

The Hyundai Sonata 2.4 petrol engine now ranks amongst the greenest cars in the GVG's large segment, offering both prospective private and fleet buyers a greener choice.

The GVG is a government-run online information service that provides details of the environmental performance of all new vehicles sold in Australia. The overall vehicle star rating is based on the sum of the air pollution and greenhouse ratings. Equal weighting is given to both these ratings to arrive at a combined GVG rating (out of 20), which then is translated into the star rating. The more stars, the more environmentally friendly the vehicle, with 5 stars being the maximum.

Further information can be found at: www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au

Hyundai is committed to improving the environmental performance of its range. The Sonata is also available with a 2.0 litre CRDi turbo-Diesel engine.