Fire Hazard from Garmin Nuvi Prompts Recalls from Suzuki and Nissan

After Garmin announced a voluntary recall of 1.25 million units of its popular Nuvi GPS system at the end of August amidst concerns that the batteries could overheat and catch fire, Suzuki and Nissan followed with a recall on several vehicles equipped with the affected Garmin Nuvi navigation systems including the 750, 760, or 765 models for the same reason.

The recalled Garmin units can be found on certain Suzuki vehicles including the 2008-2010MY SX4 crossovers, 2010MY Grand Vitara SUVs, and 2009-2010MY Equator vehicles, and the 2008-2010MY Nissan Altima, Frontier, Pahtfinder, Rogue, Sentra, Versa and Xterra vehicles.

In both cases, the automakers will notify owners of the affected models, and the repairs will be performed by Garmin technicians who will replace the battery and insert a spacer on top of the battery free of charge.

Report: Suzuki's US Sales Nosediving into Oblivion

Remember yesterday when we said Suzuki got smacked by an average 68% sales drop compared to last August (and -52% from the beginning of the year) in the US? Well, we decided to take a deeper look at the company's sales figures and discovered some interesting facts.

All in all, Suzuki sold a mere 1,878 cars and SUVs in August, down from 5,751 units the same month a year ago. The Japanese automaker says it has around 300 dealers in the U.S. If you do the math, that comes to a little over 6 vehicles sold per dealer in August... Here are some more details on the company's sales broken down model by model:

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Suzuki's "best"-selling models, the Grand Vitara and Equator, took a 73% sales dive. Not far off that, the SX4's sales fell by 75% while the XL7 and and Forenza/Reno took 99% and 100% drops (granted, the Forenza/Reno was discontinued and only moved a laughable 12 units in 2010).

The all-new and much promising Kizashi, which hasn't officially dropped in sales because it wasn't available last August, has barely managed to bring in 478 buyers in August. For all the other scary Suzuki sales figures, scroll on down.

Looking at these depressing stats, it's no wonder they're holding off on debuting the Swift here.

By Phil Alex

Suzuki Adds 1.9-liter Turbo Diesel to UK Market Grand Vitara SZ 5-Door Range

Completing its revised Grand Vitara line-up in the UK, Suzuki has introduced a new 1.9-liter DDiS turbo diesel engine to the five-door model range. The four-cylinder diesel unit produces 129HP at 3,750 rpm and 300Nm or 221 lb-ft of peak torque at 2,000 rpm launching the compact SUV from zero to 62mph (100 km/h) in 13.2 sec and on to a top speed of 106mph or 170 km/h.

Suzuki said that CO2 emissions are reduced to 185g/km from 191g/km compared to the previous unit while the new model achieves 40.4mpg UK or 33.7mpg US / 7.0 lt per 100km on the combined cycle.

The new model is available in two different trim levels, the SZ4 and SZ5 grades, both of which come equipped with 18-inch alloy wheels, front fog lamps, in-dash 6CD changer with radio, MP3 audio-compatibility and seven speakers, heated leather seats and automatic climate control air conditioning as standard.

UK prices have been set at £17,975 OTR for the SZ4 and £19,475 OTR for the SZ5 trim.

Suzuki Adds New 1.6L Petrol and 1.9L Diesel to facelifted Grand Vitara 3d Range

After the launch of the facelifted Grand Vitara model range with the 166HP 2.4-litre engine in October 2008 (for details and photos, click here), Suzuki is now expanding its UK lineup with the addition of a 1.6L petrol and 1.9L diesel engine to the three-door model range. The 1.6-liter gasoline unit which is linked to a 5-speed manual gearbox, makes 106HP at 5,900 rpm and a peak torque of 145Nm at 4,100 rpm offering a 0 to 62mph (100km/h) sprint time of 14.4 sec and a top speed of 99mph or 159km/h.

The entry-level petrol model that comes with a four-wheel drive system as standard achieves a combined fuel economy of 34.5mpg UK or 8.2lt/100km in the European cycle.S

The second addition to the Grand Vitara 3d lineup is the 1.9-liter DDiS diesel unit. that produces an output of 129 horsepower at 3,750 rpm and a maximum torque of 300Nm at 2,200 rpm. The four-wheel drive model accelerates from standstill to 62mph or 100km/h in 12.8 seconds and achieves a top speed of 106mph (170km/h) while returning 40.4mpg UK or 7.0lt/100km in the combined European cycle.

As with the rest of the range, both models feature a revised front end treatment and new door mirrors with integrated turn indicators while interior changes include a new multi-information display and revised air conditioning control panel.

In the UK, the 1.6-litre three-door manual is priced from £13,600 while the 1.9 DDiS diesel starts from £16,200.