Suzuki 2001 Annual Report Download - page 3

SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION● 1
A MESSAGE FROM THE MANAGEMENT
With respect to the business environment surrounding our
corporate group in this fiscal year, we are still unable to sense
much strength in personal consumption in the Japanese
domestic market, and harsh economical conditions still
prevail. The U.S. economy, on the other hand, stayed strong
during the first half of this fiscal year, but signs of slowdown
started to become apparent in the second half. Major
European markets generally stayed strong, and the Southeast
Asian market basically stayed in a recovery phase.
Under such circumstances, Suzuki in the domestic
motorcycle market made efforts to increase sales by
introducing models such as the large-displacement bike
GSX1400 to enhance our product lineup. In the domestic
automobile market, we introduced products such as the new
passenger car Aerio featuring advanced designs, the compact
passenger car Wagon R Solio, along with numerous special-
edition models. At the same time, we opened a new
subcompact car sales channel in April 2000, named Suzuki
Arena, to strengthen our sales network.
Meanwhile, in the overseas markets, we made efforts to
increase exports of completed vehicles by introducing new
models including the GSX-R1000 in our motorcycle lineup
and vehicles such as the Liana, a new-generation subcompact
passenger car, and XL-7, a 7-seat SUV. Our efforts to
strengthen and enhance our overseas production base
included measures such as starting production of Suzuki cars
at General Motors de Argentina S.A.
As a result, our net sales in this fiscal year reached
¥1,600,253 million (US$ 12,916 million), 105.2% of the
previous year, and our operating income rose to ¥50,727
million (US$ 409 million), 119.1% of the previous year.
However, our net income, influenced by factors such as
exchange rates, dropped to ¥20,248 million (US$ 163
million), 75.3% of the previous year.
We can only foresee difficult market circumstances in the
months ahead. However, we intend to challenge the
difficulties with our basic corporate motto for 2001:
"Challenge 25-Thoroughly review if it is Smaller, Fewer,
Lighter, Shorter and Neater ?", through which we intend to
actively implement improvements in every aspect of our
business and bolster our corporate strength by heightening
quality, improving productivity, reducing production costs,
further promoting the commonality of parts, and raising the
efficiency of our indirect work. We will also make continued
efforts to strengthen our existing sales network inside Japan
and further enhance Suzuki Arena, the new sales channel for
subcompact vehicles which we opened last year, and make
sure such efforts will translate into increased sales. In the
overseas markets, we will make efforts to boost the
competitiveness of our existing production bases, and
actively open up new markets around the world. In our
alliance with General Motors Corporation, we will make
efforts to build up our basic corporate strength through: 1) a
mutual utilization of our overseas production bases; 2) joint
development of subcompact automobiles, and 3) active
technological exchanges. In addition, we will further
strengthen our product development efforts to heighten the
safety and consumer appeal of our products, and to develop
next-generation vehicles such as vehicles powered by hybrid
and fuel-cell powerplants for the protection of the global
environment. We believe such comprehensive efforts are
required of us to further develop our business.
We are sincerely looking forward to your continuing
support and encouragement of our business.
June 2001
Osamu Suzuki
Chairman & CEO
Masao Toda
President & COO