Suzuki News

Urmo Aava succeeds on rough gravel roads of Sardinia – P-G Andersson still leads title race

Suzuki driver Urmo Aava has claimed his first Junior Rally Championship victory of the season on round three of the series, the Rally d’Italia Sardegna. Aava finished over a minute ahead of his team mate P-G Andersson, in second. The result means that Andersson continues to lead the title race, with Aava in second. The Suzuki Swift was dominant on the rough and rocky gravel roads of Sardinia, winning every stage of the rally. Both cars ran reliably during the event, although Urmo lost time after hitting a tree on day two, while P-G dropped back with a puncture. Despite these setbacks, both Suzuki drivers finished more than five minutes ahead of their closest rivals.

“It was a really good fight,” said P-G Andersson. “For me, the important thing is that I come away from here still leading the championship. The key to winning the title is to be consistent as well as quick, so I took no risks today to be sure of bringing the car home in one piece.”

After a disappointing race in Portugal last month, where Urmo Aava lost the lead on the final afternoon with a puncture, this time he bore the palm: “We’re lucky to be here at all after hitting a tree on the second day, but luckily the Suzuki Swift is very strong so it was fine,” stated Aava. “The car has not given us a single problem throughout all three days of this very tough rally, and I’ve also moved two points closer towards challenging P-G for the lead of the championship.”

Team principal Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima also was more than happy with the result: “Both drivers did everything we asked of them and I am very pleased that our Suzuki Swift claimed all the stages and proved its reliability once more.”

Junior Rally Championship classification after SS18, Rally d’Italia Sardegna:

World Premiere at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt / Available with three engines with CO₂ emissions below 140 g/km

With the Splash, a new fresh and exciting small passenger car, Suzuki Motor Corporation intends to gain a significant market share in this growing market segment in Europe. The new flexible compact car combines the sportiness of Suzuki’s successful model Swift with the technologies and immense know-how of the Japanese world market leader in the mini car segment.

The Splash is not the successor of any specific former Suzuki model, but a brand-new concept to satisfy the needs of demanding European customers in terms of roominess, compactness, modern design, aerodynamics, quality, driveability, performance and environmental friendliness. The safety equipment encompasses state-of-the-art features such as six airbags and an Electronic Stability Program (ESP®*). It looks fresh, energetic, juvenile and emotional and thereby underlines the aspiration of its name Splash. Within the global growth strategy of Suzuki, the Splash is already the fourth entirely new model within three years after the launch of Swift, Grand Vitara and SX4 which all embody Suzuki’s unique ‘Way of Life!’-philosophy.

Within this market segment, the car convinces with a relatively tall body (1.6 metres) based on the chassis from the sporty Swift. With its overall length of 3.7 metres and width of 1.7 metres it offers an amply tall and comfortable roomy cabin with sufficient legroom for adults on all seats. Its modern design leads to excellent aerodynamic efficiency and consequently to low carbon-dioxide emissions.

The Splash will make its worldwide debut at the International Motor Show in September in Frankfurt am Main. Sales of the car with its excellent ride comfort will start as of spring 2008. It will be available with two different petrol engines: a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder, 12-valve unit with maximum power of 48kW (65hp) and a 1.2-litre, four-cylinder, 16-valve unit with maximum power of 63kW (86hp). With these engines, low friction and plentiful flat torque delivery at low and mid-range speeds help to ensure good driveability across the rev range while promoting fuel economy and limiting CO₂ emissions.

Customers preferring a diesel engine can choose a proven 1.3-litre, common rail, 16-valve unit with optional particulate filter and a maximum power of 55kW (75hp). In light of the growing need for environmental compatibility, emissions of all three engines with 5-speed manual gearbox are between only 120g/km and 140g/km. The petrol engines were both newly developed by Suzuki Motor Corporation as next-generation power engines. The diesel engine will be produced at Suzuki’s plant in India under licence from Fiat Powertrain.

Suzuki aims to sell up to 60,000 units per year of the Splash in Europe. The brand-new model has been developed by Suzuki Motor Corporation and will be produced by its subsidiary company Magyar Suzuki Corporation in Hungary.

* ESP is a registered trademark of DaimlerChrysler AG.