Mazda Proceed Levante

The Mazda Proceed Levante was the version of the Suzuki Escudo, sold in most other markets as the Suzuki Vitara, that Mazda marketed in Japan in the second half of the 1990s. It came out of an exchange between the two companies: in December 1994 the Vitara range gained a 2.0-litre V6, Suzuki's first six-cylinder, and a 2.0-litre Mazda-sourced turbodiesel, and in return Mazda got to sell the Escudo in the Japanese market as the Proceed Levante starting in 1995. The Vitara is a series of SUVs that Suzuki has produced since 1988. The same article gives two end dates, 1997 in one passage and 2000 in another, and says Mazda continued selling the rebadged Escudo as the Proceed Levante until the Mazda Tribute replaced it in 2000.