American Suzuki Reports Strongest Year-to-date Sales in More Than a Decade; Grand Vitara Accelerates Automotive Division's Market Success.

BREA, Calif.--(AutomotiveWire)--Sept. 1, 1999--

The Automotive Division of American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) today reported its highest year-to-date sales since 1988.

For August, Suzuki sold 4,868 new cars in the U.S., a remarkable 100 percent increase over the August 1998 sales of 2,435. Suzuki continues to set a brisk pace, selling 32,214 units this calendar year, up 25 percent from the same period in 1998, when sales totaled 25,733.

August marks the third consecutive month tallying more than a 50 percent increase in total sales, compared with the corresponding month last year.

Suzuki's flagship model, the Grand Vitara, featuring a class- leading V6 engine, notched 2,959 sales for August and marked the best month since its introduction more than a year ago. Sales have continued to grow, averaging more than 2,000 units a month and surged to nearly 3,000 units this month.

ASMC expects its strong sales trend to continue due to factors such as the re-energized brand-building efforts that began with last year's Grand Vitara launch. The corporation recently announced its sponsorship of the venerable Heisman Trophy in conjunction with the largest-ever Time Warner multi-media initiative put together for a single client.

The Automotive Division of American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC), located in Brea, was founded in 1985 by Suzuki Motor Corp. (SMC). ASMC markets automobiles in the United States through a network of 320 automotive dealerships in 49 states.

ASMC's parent company, Suzuki Motor Corp. (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide automobile manufacturer. Founded in 1920, SMC has 134 distributors in 175 countries.