American Suzuki Motor Corp

Brea-based American Suzuki Motor Corp.'s automotive division has severed ties with its longtime public relations firm, Rogers & Associates. In a joint announcement, the two companies said their 12-year relationship has ended because Suzuki has decided to handle all of its public relations work internally. American Suzuki is the U.S. import and distribution arm for Suzuki cars, motorcycles, watercraft and other products.

Suzuki was founded in 1909 as a manufacturer of looms for textile weaving -- the same type of business that launched what became Toyota Motor Corp. Suzuki produced its first automobile in 1955 and began exporting vehicles in the 1980s, with its first U.S. sales in 1985. American Suzuki Motor Corp. started with a single model, the SJ -- also called the Samurai.

American Suzuki Motor Corp., staggered by a catastrophic decline in Samurai sales and weakness in its other automotive lines, said Monday that its president has been reassigned to corporate headquarters in Japan, and the three top officials of the auto division have resigned. Kenji Shimizu, chairman of Brea-based American Suzuki since July and a longtime executive and managing director of the Suzuki Motor Co. conglomerate in Japan, will replace Toshiyuki Arai as president of American Suzuki.

American Suzuki Motor Corp., staggering under a dramatic sales decline in its automotive division, said Monday that its president has been reassigned to corporate headquarters in Japan while three top officials of the division have resigned. Kenji Shimizu, chairman of Brea-based American Suzuki since July and a longtime executive and managing director of the Suzuki Motor Co. conglomerate in Japan, will replace Toshiyuki Arai as president of American Suzuki.

American Suzuki Motor Corp. in Brea is recalling about 7,400 all-terrain vehicles for children because of mechanical problems that could cause the driver to lose control and crash. The drive chain can come off the sprockets and lock the rear axle, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. The company has received one report of a chain coming off, but no injuries have been reported. The recalled ATVs are the 2002 Suzuki QuadMaster 50 designed for children ages 6 to 12.

A $37-million judgment against Brea-based American Suzuki Motor Corp. was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court, setting up a third trial in a case brought by a woman who was paralyzed in 1990 when the Suzuki Samurai in which she was riding flipped over. Suzuki has been the target of dozens of suits by Samurai drivers and passengers since the four-wheel-drive vehicle, no longer sold in the U.S., was savaged in a 1988 review in Consumer Reports.

Suzuki Samurai owners who claim the sport utility vehicle rolls over too easily won an important round this week in their $90-million suit against American Suzuki Motor Corp. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Barnet M. Cooperman granted the plaintiffs class-action status, meaning the suit can be heard on behalf of 45,000 Californians who bought the vehicle. It is the first time a state or federal court has approved class-action litigation over the complaints against the Samurai.

American Suzuki Motor Corp.'s libel suit against Consumer Reports has been tossed out by a federal judge in Orange County, but the car importer says it still plans to pursue a suit against the magazine over a devastating review that killed sales of the Samurai sports utility vehicle. Suzuki has the option of filing an amended suit against Yonkers, N.Y.-based Consumers Union and its Consumer Reports magazine on grounds of product disparagement, or unfair criticism.