Suzuki Alto a recession fighter

Downsizing is the key to fighting the world recession, according to Suzuki’s Queensland base.

Keith Williams CEO of Suzuki Auto Company said the Swift had been a major success for the Queensland importer and it would be joined in July by the slightly smaller Alto, the fifth and smallest in its fleet.

"We have repositioned Suzuki with the Swift and we will continue with the Alto with good build quality and features in a compact fuel economical car that is at a good price," he said. "It pulls off some of the Swift selling features and puts it into something even more affordable and green."

The bug-eyed and frog-mouthed Alto, which is the A Star from India, weighs less than one tonne. It is powered by a one-litre, three-cylinder engine producing 50kW of power and 90Nm of torque, sipping fuel at 4.5L/100km and pumping out only 103g of CO2 emissions per kilometre.

Williams said the city car is also good on the freeway and had impeccable green credentials with 86.9 per cent of its components recyclable and 95 per cent recoverable.

It will come in S and GLX trim levels in four-speed auto and five-speed manual.

Alto will also be a leader in its class on safety with Electronic Stability Program as an option and six airbags (SRS dual front airbags, front-seat side airbags and dual curtain airbags).

Much of the body and chassis is made of high-tensile steel to improve occupant safety.

Suzuki in Queensland is 37.8 per cent down on last year, but Williams said they were still selling well.

"Suzuki (Queensland) is unique because we had a meteoric rise in sales, quadrupling in four years," he said.

"The market has come off about 25 per cent but we are still doing 300 per cent better than we were four years ago.

"One year it went up 172 per cent mainly because of the Swift which is still a solid performer in the market several years later.

"We've come down with the market but I think we are in a good position with small cars and the new Alto this year and the Kizashi coming next year."

He said the mid-sized 2.4-litre Kizashi was another example of downsizing.

"It was originally planned to come with a 3-litre V6, but that's been scrapped because of worldwide downsizing," he said.

Williams said Suzuki would continue to concentrate on small-capacity, fuel-miserly, petrol-powered cars, but would not rule out other "green" powertrains such as hybrid.

"Never say never in the auto industry, but more probably we will move into electric cars because of our work with electric wheelchairs and electric motorcycles," he said.

"We have also done a fuel cell vehicle in collaboration with GM based on the SX4."

Williams said Suzuki and Honda were the only two Japanese companies to make a profit last year.

"That's mainly because of our involvement in India where they sold 750,000 cars last year," he said.

"I think it (the Indian market) will roll up quicker than other markets because of the number of people there."