Welcome to Random, a new series at Car Throttle where we bring you the stories nobody looks for, but turn out to be oddly interesting
Here’s a news story you probably didn’t expect to care about today: Suzuki has just sold its 10 millionth Wagon R. Go figure.
In case you’re unfamiliar, the Wagon R was first introduced in Japan in 1993 as a Kei-spec box designed as a mini MPV. Its first generation was particularly weirdly known for having a single door on its right-hand side and two on the left, though a symmetrical version was introduced in 1996.
1st generation Suzuki Wagon R
Such was its success in Japan that Mazda started selling a version as the Autozam AZ Wagon in a deal that also saw the AZ-1 Kei sports car sold as a Suzuki Cara. Then, Suzuki began exporting a slightly wider version, the Wagon R+, globally from 1997.
It soldiered on with a second-generation Wagon R built from 1998 through to 2003 in Japan, and even came in various other guises – the larger R+ version built in Europe and also sold as the Vauxhall Agila for those of us in the UK, and Opel Agila for Europe, until going out of production in 2007. It would, however, survive until 2010 in India under Maruti Suzuki.
6th generation Suzuki Wagon R
Meanwhile, the kei Wagon R and JDM-spec R+ would get a third generation from 2003 to 2008, during which it was also sold as a Mazda AZ and, weirdly, a Chevrolet MW in the case of the R+. Fourth and fifth generations would follow under both Suzuki and Mazda, leading into the sixth generation, introduced in 2017 and still on sale today.
Although Suzuki is making a song and dance now about passing the 10 million milestone for the Wagon R, the example to take that crown was actually sold in June, so sorry to bring you this tidbit later than we’d have liked.
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