The Suzuki Twin is a

kei car Kei car (or , kanji: , "light automobile", ), known variously outside Japan as Japanese city car or Japanese microcar, is the Japanese vehicle category for the smallest highway-legal passenger cars with restricted dimensions and engine capacit ...

built by

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

and sold in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from January 22, 2003, until October 2005. It was available in both

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

and non-hybrid versions, making it the first hybrid

available in Japan. Under the Japanese test cycle, the standard model was capable of 4.54L/100 km whereas the hybrid variant was capable of 2.93L/100 km. Suzuki Twin 002

Designed primarily for young females, the Suzuki Twin is slightly longer than the Smart Fortwo. It featured many new and unique features including a passenger seat that could fold completely flat and become a storage tray and a single power window on the driver's side to reduce battery use and cut costs. The Twin's design and concept were first seen in the Suzuki PU3 Commuter concept car at the

Tokyo Motor Show The is a biennial auto show held in October–November at the Tokyo Big Sight, Tokyo, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), it is a recognized international show by ...

. A near-production update was shown at the 2002 Tokyo Motor Show before finally being released in 2003. In August 2003 motoring magazine ''

Car and Driver ''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was fou ...

'' test drove the Twin with mostly negative remarks. The Twin's acceleration, storage and interior furnishings were all criticized whilst its headroom and

turning diameter The turning diameter of a vehicle is the minimum diameter (or "width") of available space required for that vehicle to make a circular turn (i.e. U-turn). The term thus refers to a theoretical minimal circle in which for example an aeroplane, a ...

were praised.

References

Twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

Kei cars Hybrid electric cars Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 2003 {{Modern-auto-stub

See also

References