A little background. The event was part of a series taking place around the country meant primarily for Suzuki dealers to show off the new SX4 Sport model. Coming along for the ride is the Kizashi 3 concept car, one of the Suzuki Equator pre-production concepts and the Swift Suzuki was kind enough to let us drive. Though sporting a bright orange metallic paint and wheels of questionable origin, this car was a fairly standard mid-level version, sporting the 1.5-liter fourbanger good for about 100 horsepower. Though they have a five-speed manual version back at HQ, this particular model unfortunately carried the four-speed automatic.

Until we start seeing new Fiestas or Mazda2s on the street, sporty and small Euro-style econoboxes are still a rare site. Though there are Mini Coopers and the occasional Smart ForTwo in urban areas, Americans aren't necessarily used to this quality of design from their smaller vehicles.

Given that the Swift name has been used on enough rebadgings to make your head swim, the car benefits from carrying little aesthetic baggage, allowing the designers the freedom to make a car that looks sharp without having to pay homage to any of the crap coming before it. With the exception of the nose of the car featuring grille and fender work inline with the new and sporty Suzuki design language, the car can stand on its own. The high belt line, which looks out-of-place on certain small cars (we're looking at you, Chevy HHR), manages to give the Swift a larger, more athletic presence. The blacked out A and B pillars also help, minimizing focus towards that part of the greenhouse in a way that carries your eyes away from noticing just how small that rear window is. Compare this to an Aveo, which looks small from any angle (hilariously, the Aveo in Canada is marketed as the Swift).

The interior is straightforward and simple, which is what you expect for a car this size. The three-spoke steering wheel isn't cartoonishly large and is even slightly sporty thanks to the ribbons of chrome-looking plastic which also support the thumb controls. The audio and climate control buttons are tiny, leaving the impression that the interior is actually larger than it is. For an economy car the materials aren't insulting and even a sensitive claustrophobic could survive a short trip (for comparison, the five-door Swift is approximately as wide and long as a first generation MINI but with a three-inch shorter wheelbase).

Like many small cars this one is more fun batting around corners than down the straightaway, especially with the automatic transmission. Nevertheless, the little 1.5-liter engine features Suzuki's version of variable valve timing, allowing for a slightly more aggressive power delivery when accelerating. Tossing the Swift around a 90-degree turn at speed was no problem with the little hatch able to main sufficient traction to keep us pointed in the right direction. There's a little lean when turning aggressively, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.

Over uneven roads the ride was a touch bumpy, but not enough to cause premature labor for any pregnant passengers. Braking? The Swift weighs approximately 2,400 pounds (a bit more with two souls on board), meaning the rear drums are more than able to slow us down before we go rolling off of an embankment or into another car during hard braking.

In the cab on the way back to the train station my driver retold a tale of his old Fiesta. As embarrassed as he was to drive it, he says he rarely had as much fun behind the wheel. The nice thing about the Swift is it's a small, quick and most importantly for the buying demographic — cheap car that you wouldn't be embarrassed to drive. Add to that gas-sipping on par or better than some of the more thirstier hybrids and you've got a car that'll embarrass cheaper-looking alternatives like the Toyota Yaris and the Kia Rio. Just because you're on a budget, it doesn't mean you should settle for crap. If this Swift is a good indicator of the Swift to come, budget buyers at least have a little something more to look forward to.

[ED Note: This car is a foreign-import version of the Suzuki Swift, meaning that there could be significant differences between the version tested and the eventual US Version. That being said, the car should give an indication of what we have to expect from a new Swift]

Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd said on Thursday it would end sales of sport utility vehicles in North American in a year due to dwindling demand.

Isuzu began selling SUVs in North America in the 1980s and in 1999 its annual sales there topped 100,000 vehicles, led by the popular Trooper model.

Financial difficulties later forced Isuzu to pull out of a joint venture factory in Indiana with Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd in 2002, and instead sell SUVs built by former top shareholder General Motors Corp.

Isuzu said in a statement that its North American SUV sales totaled just 7,000 vehicles last year.

The termination will result in an extraordinary loss of 4 billion yen ($37 million) to be booked partly in the current business year ending on March 31 and some in the new year, a spokesman in Tokyo said.

The firm's latest projections call for a group net profit of 80 billion yen in the year to March.

Isuzu will continue SUV parts sales and maintenance in North America, the spokesman said.

UPDATE: Apparently it is too soon and since it was Jake who claimed he couldn't quit Heath, we'll just make a Jake Gyllenhaal joke. We feel like it's open season on him anyway ever since Day After Tomorrow. Also, Isuzu is quitting sales of the Chevy Colorado-based i-Series pickup truck too according to our friends at PickupTruck.com. [Reuters, PickupTruck]

Treehugger is so pleased Japanese carmakers have decided to ship some of their smallest specimens to North America — and, in some cases, all the way to the US — that they've devoted column inches to examining some of the models on the way, like the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit (both of which are bound for the states). While we've unearthed larger objects flossing our teeth, in truth, we can't wait to wrap our urban-dwelling, dollar-bleeding arses in some lil' car love, starting with the Yaris, launching in US-spec form next spring for the 2007 model year. Honda hasn't announced a US timeline for the Fit, but most sources point to a mid-2006 launch. As for the Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra, US launches are still indefinite.

Small Japanese Cars Are Coming to North-America, Again [Treehugger]

Related:
The US to Get Fit: Honda Aims to Sell 60,000 Subcompacts in the States [internal]