httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjY5f4zdk-I

Suzuki, the Japanese car company that produced the ubiquitous Geo Metro back in the day, is all about their new “Live Large. Drive Small” campaign. Even though Suzuki makes a small SUV called the Grand Vitara, the company is mostly know internationally for cars like the Swift (Metro in the US) and its Japanese Kei cars.

Now, the real question is whether this gimmick is true to life or just a marketing tactic based on what Suzuki wishes was true. Having been at the LA Auto Show all day, I can tell you first hand that neither on roads nor in the showroom is the SUV dead. While many more of the SUVs featured this time around were hybrids or E85-capable vehicles, there was no shortage of them.

In fact, some of the SUVs the car companies are labeling a “new style” of SUV were on hand and still under-performing as far as fuel economy goes. A friend of mine has the pleasure of test driving a Ford Flex as part of the EcoDrivingUSA program, but was only able to manage 14.1 mpg with it. Not to trash the Flex in particular, but I don’t think we can throw the towel in on the SUV just yet?

What’re your thoughts? Will we ever be free of the SUV or will they just get lower in numbers and greener?

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Image: 顔なし

Even though you may remember the US version of the Suzuki Swift as the nerd-chic Geo Metro or Pontiac Firefly, the rest of the world currently thinks about the car as that sweet looking subcompact owned by the family down the street. This current incarnation was released in Japan and Europe in 2004, and as reported by ABG, recently passed the 1 million sale mark.

The car started out in Japan, but quickly moved to Europe, where it is built in Hungary, and recently to the UK, where sales are strong. Judging by Suzuki’s advertising push in the US recently, combined with the high price of gas and the resurgence of compact cars, I really wonder if we’ll see this car on our side of the pond any time soon.

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