Geo Metro

rdf:langString Geo Metro

rdf:langString Geo Metro

rdf:langString Second generation

rdf:langString Geo Metro

rdf:langString Canada: Ingersoll, Ontario

rdf:langString Suzuki Swift

rdf:langString Geo Metro

rdf:langString Chevrolet Metro

rdf:langString Pontiac Firefly

rdf:langString "As gas prices spike and consumers increasingly look for ways to get to work more efficiently, heavy media coverage has spurred interest in one particular old car: the Geo Metro."

rdf:langString US News, 2008

rdf:langString The Geo Metro is a marketing and manufacturing variation of the Suzuki Cultus available in North America from 1989 through 2001 as a joint effort of General Motors (GM) and Suzuki. In the US, the Metro carried a Geo nameplate from 1989 through 1997, and a Chevrolet nameplate from 1998 to 2001. It evolved with the Cultus and its siblings over 13 years, three generations and four body styles: three-door hatchback, four-door sedan, five-door hatchback and two-door convertible—and was ultimately replaced in the General Motors lineup by a family of vehicles based on the Daewoo Kalos, the Chevrolet Aveo. From 1985 through 1989, Cultus-derived models sold in North America—under the nameplates Suzuki Forsa, Suzuki Swift, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo Metro and Pontiac Firefly—were sourced from Suzuki's facilities in Japan. Beginning in 1990, all North American M-cars were produced at CAMI Automotive, a 50–50 joint venture between General Motors and Suzuki in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, although Japanese production continued to source Canada bound sedan models. CAMI never reached its intended Metro/Firefly/Swift capacity. While at its peak, Canadian Swift/Metro/Firefly production reached more than 100,000 vehicles a year, the number fell to just 32,000 in 2000. In response to the waning popularity of smaller automobiles in the North American markets, Chevrolet/Geo sold only 55,600 Metros in 1997, off from 88,700 the year before. In a 2004 Autoweek article, Osamu Suzuki, chairman of Suzuki, called CAMI "a fishbone in my throat" because of its low production. Beginning in late 2003 as a model year 2004 car, the Daewoo Kalos, marketed variously as the Chevrolet Aveo, Pontiac Wave and Suzuki Swift+, effectively replaced the Metro/Firefly, although the Aveo is more of a Daewoo Lanos replacement as opposed to the Metro, the same time when Daewoo closed majority of its dealerships outside South Korea in 2002. The Suzuki Swift was replaced by the Suzuki Aerio hatchback in 2002, although the Aerio also replaced the Suzuki Esteem.