By Bob Golfen
AZCentral.com April 22, 2005Here's a marriage that's made in Detroit, with General Motors serving as matchmaker:
The new Suzuki Reno comes to us as a compact car built by a South Korean automaker, powered by an Australian engine, sold with a Japanese nameplate and named after a Nevada city.
So how did this happen? A few years ago, GM bought the bankrupt South Korean automaker Daewoo, which sold cars in this country for a brief, unmemorable time. But Daewoo has no dealer network in the United States, and GM needed a way to sell Daewoo cars. advertisement
Meanwhile, Japanese automaker Suzuki, which is partly owned by the General, finds itself in need of cars to sell.
Voila! Suzuki gets the Forenza, Verona and Reno, which all are Daewoo products rebadged as Suzukis. To further globalize the situation, Forenza and Reno get engines made by a GM affiliate in Australia. GM also took a Daewoo as one if its own, badging a subcompact as Chevrolet Aveo.
As for the Nevada city name, well, somebody apparently thought Reno would make a swell name for a car. Others may disagree.
New for 2005, Reno is a four-door hatchback with a curvaceous body that's designed to be sporty, practical and economical.
Although performance is fairly routine, Reno's moderate price and standard features could put it in a competitive position against such similar hatchbacks as Mazda3, Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix, Ford Focus ZX5 and Scion xA.
Oddly, Reno is the third Suzuki with the same base price, $13,449, including Forenza and Aerio.
Additional Reviews
Cars.com Expert Reviews
| Joe Wiesenfelder | Cars.com National | June 9, 2005 |
| Jim Flammang | Cars.com National | June 23, 2005 |
Affiliate Reviews
| Mark Glover | The Sacramento Bee | July 15, 2005 |
| Warren Brown | washingtonpost.com | May 8, 2005 |
| Bob Golfen | AZCentral.com | April 22, 2005 |
| Anita And Paul Lienert | The Detroit Newspapers | March 9, 2005 |
| Matt Nauman | TheMercuryNews.com | February 11, 2005 |
| Steven Cole Smith | Orlando Sentinel | December 16, 2004 |
| G. Chambers Williams III | Star-Telegram.com | November 11, 2004 |
Closest Dealers Listing this Car
Featured Services for the Suzuki Reno
- Sell your current car quickly and easily on Cars.com.
