Suzuki Grand Vitaras Reward Cast of MTV's Road Rules

Road Rules cast and their new Grand Vitara

BREA, Calif.--Oct. 29, 2001--Suzuki Grand Vitara SUVs are the ``Handsome Reward'' each of the six MTV Road Rules cast members earned after weeks of grueling challenges in Morocco and Spain during the tenth season of the widely popular reality TV show.

The brand new four-wheel-drive V6 grand prize Grand Vitaras were presented to the six 20-something Road Rules cast members in the final two episodes of the season, set to air back-to-back at 7 p.m. Eastern/10 p.m. Pacific Time tonight.

The last episode was taped at McGuire Air Force Base near Trenton, N.J., where the prize Grand Vitaras were staged with special lighting and fog-effects in an Air Force airplane hangar. A specially camouflaged Grand Vitara led the cast members to the hangar and when the massive doors opened, the cast went wild for their new Grand Vitaras parked inside.

Ellen, Blair, Adam, Sophia, Steve and Katie put on their Suzuki clothes, pored over the gifts and proudly posed for more pictures with their cherished Grand Vitaras before driving them out of the hangar.

Suzuki's XL-7 SUV also got a big thumbs-up from these new Suzuki owners when the cast drove them from Kennedy Airport in New York to their final Road Rules destination at McGuire Air Force base during the three-day taping of the final episode. Several cast members remarked at how much they liked driving the larger SUV with its three rows of seats.

``We fought over who would get to drive the Suzuki's each time we went anywhere,'' said one cast member, ``we especially liked the stereo, the sunroof and all the room.''

And it wasn't only the six cast members who quickly took to the Suzuki SUVs -- the 40 crew members quickly became fans of the sporty, spunky SUVs.

Chris Specht, director of business development at Bunim-Murray Productions said, ``The Suzuki Grand Vitaras are great -- they definitely have a Road Rules look and feel. From the very beginning we were all excited about this partnership and look forward to working with Suzuki again in the future.''

Suzuki Motor Corp. (SMC) based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide automobile manufacturer. Incorporated in 1920, SMC sells a variety of vehicles in 191 countries.

Suzuki Motor Corp. founded the Automotive Division of American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC), located in Brea, in 1985. ASMC markets automobiles in the United States through a network of more than 400 automotive dealerships in 49 states.

American Suzuki Motor Corp. can be reached via the Internet at www.suzuki.com.

About Bunim-Murray Productions

``Road Rules'' is created and executive produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jon Murray. This season's supervising producer is Julie Pizzi who said, ``On a project like Road Rules, it is important that all of our partners fit into the show in a way that is cool and exciting. Suzuki definitely fit this need and was great to work with.''

Bunim-Murray Productions, based in Van Nuys, Calif., also produces ``The Real World'' and ``Making The Band'' on MTV and ``Love Cruise'' on FOX.