Suzuki Grand Vitara 2006 News

He is - or was - Hirotaka Ono - a visionary who re-invented the Japanese brand and changed everything, from boosting the quality of its cars to creating the can-do attitude among senior managers that's essential for the success of any car company. Ono had a giant advantage because he was married to the daughter of company founder, Osama Suzuki.He was able to use his family connection to ramrod a range of changes which would have been impossible for anyone else, especially a 40-something revolutionary in a country which usually puts age and experience ahead of youth and enthusiasm. Even so, he still had to walk the walk on everything from design and driving enjoyment to bottom-line financial deals.The award winning Suzuki Swift is an Ono car, so too is the current Grand Vitara, as well as the Kizashi. His track record also includes the less-successful second-generation XL7, thankfully only sold in the USA, but everyone makes an occasional mistake. Ono died too early at the end of 2007, but not before he inspired the cars coming through Suzuki today and forecast the global financial crisis - as well as planning the way his company would react to the challenge."Thanks to Mr Ono we have learned what we can do. He inspired us," says Tak Hayasaki, managing director of Suzuki Australia. Hayasaki has his own challenges in trying to lift Suzuki's share of Australia's annual car sales from its current 2.4 per cent to around six per cent, but he knows he has the strongest lineup in the company's history.The Alto is too small for a lot of people, but a $12,990 driveway bottom line makes plenty of sense with six airbags, ABS and ESP, as well as alloy wheels. The Swift is getting very old but is still a good car, the Grand Vitara is a safe choice and the SX4 does a good enough job.Kizashi is the game-changer for Suzuki, the same as the first Mazda6 and Accord Euro were for Mazda and Honda, combining Euro-type driving enjoyment with Japanese quality.This week the company is adding an all-wheel drive car to the Kizashi line, the Sports, and believes it can boost its sales by 100 cars a month. That's 50 per cent of the current volume. It's a big call for a car which already goes head-to-head with Mazda6 and Euro and now faces up to the might of the Subaru Liberty, the car that convinced Australians about all-wheel drive.As he looks forward, with a new Swift before the end of the year - not   that you would pick it as all-new from pictures - Hayasaki knows where the credit goes. "I have to thankyou to Mr Ono for what he has given us. He proved that we can do it."

In extreme situations, owners have been warned their vehicles may catch fire.Mitsubishi was hit with the biggest safety recall for the three month period. It has written to owners of Pajeros built between 2000 and 2003 to warn them of a potential brake problem. As many as 13,400 vehicles may need to be checked.The company also recalled 4400 of its now-defunct 380 sedan, built between 2006 and 2007, which may have a faulty fuel tank retaining strap. In a severe collision the tank may be dislodged and spill fuel.Mitsubishi is also checking more than 8300 Colts built this year which may have a problem with door windows which may drop and unlock or open the door while the car is being driven.Honda has recalled 11,800 of its 2004-05 Jazz to check whether they have a faulty handbrake, while Mazda needs to look at 1770 of its B4000 utes built between 2005-2006 because the bonnet may open unexpectedly.Subaru has recalled 5380 of its Imprezas, built between 2001 and 2003 because of a faulty rear tailgate which may suddenly drop.Subaru Australia spokesman, Dave Rowley, said many of the recalls were to check for "minor or niggling" faults."We have had no incidents of anyone being injured in Australia and we found only six cars which had the faulty (tailgate strut) connection."Many recalls are done as a pre-emptive measure to avoid possible problems further down the track, " he said.Other potential faults include electrical short circuits, which in extreme circumstances, may start a cabin fire in Landrover Freelander diesels built since 2007. Landrover warns the fault may occur when the vehicle is parked and unattended.Other recalls were to check for short circuits in Fiat's Grande Punto; and a chance that the panoramic glass roof in a small number of Citroen's Picasso could be dislodged.Suzuki has warned of potential fire risk in its 3-door Suzuki Grand Vitara (2006-07) because of a possible cracked fuel pipe, while the 2005-08 Vitara diesel has a remote fire risk in a filter because of a problem with the intercooler outlet pipe insulator.Other problems include faulty rear seat belt D-loop attachments in the current Jaguar XF, and the potential for a loss of steering in Chrysler's 300C built last year because of a problem with rear axle hub nuts which could see the half shaft disengage from the wheel hub.Mercedes Benz wants to look at axles, springs and the park brake in its Sprinter or Vito vans.Jayco has recalled some of its motor homes to check and fix awning and exhaust pipe problems.Of the 1500 motorcycles recalled, safety issues to be fixed include a faulty fuel filler on Kawasaki models, a windshield which may come off Buell bikes if ridden at high speed and a rear view mirror which may fall off on certain Yamaha models.An ACCC spokeswoman said this year's figures were actually less than last year but the number has been steadily rising over the past 20 years.The ACCC says there have been 52 individual recalls this year compared to 171 last year.Full details of the recalls can be found at www.recalls.gov.au