NEW PROTOTYPE ZOOK

[St Jimmy]

Can you guess what its based on

[Gwagensteve]

Ah yes, that's a US market Nissan Frontier. Is this another crap SEMA/Motorshow mockup from suzuki

[St Jimmy]

Ah yes, that's a US market Nissan Frontier. Is this another crap SEMA/Motorshow mockup from suzuki

Don't know found on the Zuwharri [sp] site and they think it might be real

[Gwagensteve]

Probably is - just a rebadge to sell "suzuki's" into a market sector they don't have a presence in.

However, like all teasers, I wouldn't be expecting flat paint, teflon coated rims, yokohama muddies, sliders and light guards once they arrive at the dealer.

WTF with the giant S badge? Is that so no-one would ever confuse it with a frontier?

Steve.

[St Jimmy]

MORE INFO............................................................................................................................ Thats the 2008 Suzuki Euaqtor Quad Concept car..4-door with a quad bike in the back

The Equator is first being shown at the 2008 Chicago auto show in the form of three concepts based on the production version. Each is geared toward a different Suzuki buyer: one for the dirt biker (RMZ-4), another for ATV riders (Quad), and a third for those towing a boat powered by a Suzuki marine engine (Quay).

The Equator is all about branding. Suzuki is banking on the idea that their powersports customers want to move their toys around in a truck with the same badge on it. So they put their badge on a truck - a Nissan Frontier to be exact. The Equator will be mechanically identical to the Frontier, and differ only in exterior styling. We think it looks better than the Frontier, too.

Engine options are the same as those of the Frontier. The four-cylinder 2.5-liter makes 152 hp and 171 lb-ft of torque, and the optional 4.0-liter V-6 develops 261 hp and 281 lb-ft. Both manual and automatic transmissions will be offered with either engine.

The Equator will be available in extended and crew cab bodystyles. A bed rail system will be available to help tie down all of your Suzuki gear, and a roof rack will be an option on crew cab models.

[Lil'Loki]

It's sad when manufacturer's rebadge another manufacturer's vehicle.

Every 'Holden Drover' owner knows their driving a 'Suzuki Sierra'
Every 'Toyota Lexcen' owner knows their driving a 'Holden Commodore'
One would hope anyway!

I suppose it's a cheaper way to obtain another market share.

[Squik]

Soooo being a truck... would that make it a Zuck?

[alien]

its gone the other way before though, like the drover/sierra theres the barina/swift and the 323/tx3 and 626/tx5 and the pulsar/astra... any many many more... then for about 10 years it was uncool and now it seems its back =) its a shame its not suzuki developing that ute and selling it to nissan though... that said - if suzuki developed it it'd be more plastic than metal and hard to modify...

[Lil'Loki]

its a shame its not suzuki developing that ute and selling it to nissan though... that said - if suzuki developed it it'd be more plastic than metal and hard to modify...

I think Nissan would be using just as much plastic as well.
That said, I agree that it's a shame Suzuki's not developing it's own ute. I think Suzuki would do quite well bringing out a LWB again in a few different configurations… Single Cab, Extra Cab & Dual Cab. Slightly bigger than the Maruti and smaller than the Nissan Ute. It's no good trying to compete in a well established market, already dominated by the Hilux, Navara, Rodeo & Triton.
Using a Retro (Sierra/Maruti) body styling, rugged look, and tweaked just a bit… GV V6 or 2L 4?? It may get a slice of the Ford Courier, Mazda Bravo market.

Just my thoughts

[fordy1]

i knew this was coming but i thought in single cab, australia only has a duel cab navara and the zook would be the single??!

[yo_stock]

i knew this was coming but i thought in single cab, australia only has a duel cab navara and the zook would be the single??!

Australia has the single cab Navara too... Just not as popular as dual cab.

[vicelore]

hate it... dosent look like a suzuki at all.

[Gwagensteve]

Yeah, they've gone for the obvious "cool"stuff - blacked out, flat paint etc. I don't mind the new Frontier/Navara, but this looks like a pretty cynical marketing exercise to me.

Suzuki have shown dual cab concepts in the past (GV based) so they're obviously keen on the segment, but don't have the $$/expertise to design something.

Steve.

[alien]

so why not gain it through R&D and build something better than the rest to have a point of difference... what theyre doing seems silly to me.

[fordy1]

any body got pics of a GV ute??

[grimbo]

so why not gain it through R&D and build something better than the rest to have a point of difference... what theyre doing seems silly to me.

because the money outlay and expected return obviously don't make financial sense.

Rebadging is a smart way of making some extra cash in a market segment you don't have a vehicle. It also hopefully leads to purchases of other vehicles in your linep buyers may not have considered previously

[fordy1]

the quay looks all right.

reminds me of a early XL7 prototype i saw.

http://www.suzukiequator.com/

[monkeyplex]

Suzuki is part of GM, why dont they atleast use ISUZU utes or rodeos or somthing? Your right tho, not enough incentive to spend $$$, unfortunately. If suzuki did design their own from the ground up, it would be awesome

[Gwagensteve]

are you sure?

I'm not that confident in suzuki's ability to design/engineer recently.

Steve.

[grimbo]

I seriously doubt that Suzuki's own version would be awesome. they aren't a company that builds mid size utes so can't see why they would suddenly be awesome at it. If they were they would be selling them already. Suzuki are good at doing what they do. Small to medium vehicles, primarily small vehicles that sell well in Japan.

[monkeyplex]

Point taken,

Suzuki's engineering is quite impressive recently i think, the new vitara, while not the potentially serious 4x4 it once was is a well designed and reasonably well built vehicle. Just because they havent built a mid sized ute before, doesn't really mean anything, as I said, they are owned by GM. If it was going to happen, suzuki would be using people from and have acess to ISUZU and GMC, aswell as disecting Hiluxes, Tritons, Rangers/BT50's and Navaras. The fact that there is a Suzuki badge on that frontier means that Suzuki would now have pretty good knowledge of mid size ute design. But at the end of the day, I don't think this is going to happen. No point really.

[Sarge]

I'd be surprised if they sell hardly any at all . Brand association isn't really going to help here , the folks that buy trucks that size are pretty informed and have fairly high expectatioins . Just the fact it looks like the Nissan is going to hurt it . They would have better luck bringing back the Samurai here ....lol .
Sarge