American Suzuki files for bankruptcy

[Brian P]

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I saw a kizashi on the road yesterday. First one I've ever seen!! They seem like decent cars .

They are decent. The problem is that Suzuki offers nothing that isn't available from other brands. Their automotive products in the North American market lately have been completely unremarkable. There's no pressing reason for someone to look at a Kizashi and say "gotta have it" compared to Mazda, Honda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, etc. The SX-4 is rather decent but it suffers from being the successor to the Aerio, which was lame. The whole automotive brand suffers from the GM-ownership era, in which nothing that they sold that had a Suzuki badge, was actually a Suzuki ... most of them were re-branded Daewoos, which were terrible.

The motorcycle division seems to have been doing OK, but even there, Suzuki is the one Japanese brand that I have never owned an example of. It's not that they're bad ... it's just that every time I was in the market for a new bike, something else captured my interest more. I find the last several generations of GSXR's to be indistinguishable from each other ... and this is from a sportbike enthusiast. They need to do something to shake things up.

edit: Suzuki has a huge market for minicars in Japan, India, and other parts of southeast Asia. The Alto has been a big seller since the late 1970's. The Swift (a.k.a. Geo Metro, Chevrolet Sprint) has done well and has continued doing well after they disappeared from the North American market. Suzuki knows how to build good minicars. But North Americans in general, don't want cars like that.

 

[unL33T]

The GSXR's I've sat on at shows seemed much more comfy than the other models. That's gotta count for something. That and they seem to be the most common sportbike out there.

 

[joet100r]

The article that i read said they were going to stop selling cars in the U.S. They will still be selling them in Asia. I don't know about Canada.
Too bad because they were thinking about selling a car here with a Peugot diesel engine in it. Maybe give VW some competition. Oh well.

 

[unL33T]

Too bad because they were thinking about selling a car here with a Peugot diesel engine in it. Maybe give VW some competition. Oh well.

First company to make a diesel wagon with AWD and a manual transmission available here gets my money.

 

[GDM]

The wife leased one of those Aerio things. Probably the worst vehicle I have ever had the misfortune to drive. It was going in monthly for warranty fixes and repairs. It went back in the first week after she took delivery to put the driver's side door lock back in - it sort of dropped inside the door. Fit and finish on the interior was just awful. Always liked the bikes though.

 

[LoneRonin]

I read the article and was hoping for the same thing but no. They're just gonna stop selling cars and do what Yamaha, and Kawasaki do, focus on motorcycles, ATVs and Marine stuff. Though...I think Yamaha does a lot more than that.

lol...you have no idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_Heavy_Industries

Kawi makes everything from industrial equipment, to trains, ships, military aircraft, military weapons and a whole bunch of other cool ****...Yamaha makes nice pianos, instruments and audio equipment...whoop dee ****ing doo

It funny though to see how diverse and different these big names are outside their motorsports division and I think its good that Suzuki will be more focused on that now.

 

[Brian P]

The article that i read said they were going to stop selling cars in the U.S. They will still be selling them in Asia. I don't know about Canada.

Suzuki's Canadian arm is a different corporate entity and is apparently going to continue.

Problem is ... for them to continue and get new product (which is essential), they'll have to bear the entire cost of Transport Canada certification, which is normally piggybacked on top of US EPA and FMVSS certification (the standards are almost interchangeable).

I suspect that they're on borrowed time at this point.

 

[RockerGuy]

My parents' first car was a suzuki. Really nice car and that engine was a tank. It took alot of abuse from me and the engine never failed. It was a great car.

When i was purchasing a car i looked at the suzukis and they were too pricey for the amenities given. Plus the styling wasnt that great

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[murf]

FYI, the Suzuki Gran Vitara is built at the CAMI plant in Ingersol right along side the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain
Mechanically they are identical. The platform is a joint venture between Suzuki and The General

I dont believe the Gran Vitara was ever built there. The last Suzuki built at cami was the XL7 I think.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAMI_Automotive#section_1

 

[JohnnyP636]

The powersports division only represents a small percentage of Kawasaki Heavy Industries as a whole.

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I have read articles about Kawasaki in the past, and they said Kawasaki makes the least percentage of profit out of all their products on motorcycles and power sports. The ship building etc is their bread and butter

 

[caboose56]

I have read articles about Kawasaki in the past, and they said Kawasaki makes the least percentage of profit out of all their products on motorcycles and power sports. The ship building etc is their bread and butter

From what I understand, their powersports division is more of a hobby for some of their big wigs. Must be nice!

- Hey, I bet you can't design/build/race a motorcycle!
- **** YOU, I CAN'T!!

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[SunnY S]

Bring back the Samurai!

That is the Jesus car that will save Suzuki!

 

[SunnY S]

Perspective...Suzuki is a tiny fish, in a big pond.

Suzuki Canada :

“So last year we sold about 5,000 cars so we’re on track to do more than that this year in Canada and ..”


Toyota Canada :

Toyota Canada sold 17,101 vehicles in October,

 

[DownUnder]

My old man in Aus had a suzuki alto for years, it was bulletproof. Suzuki swift is a huge selling car in Aus too. Its true they make great mini cars but as stated its not a popular genre in North America so not surprised they tanked here.

 

[PSY]

They are overpriced and offer little value for the money compared to other brands.
They don't like small cars in the US because they are getting FATTER.
Have you noticed how much BIGGER the CIVIC and CAMRY have become?

Suzuki was and is boring for cars. They appeal to nobody really and offer nothing. The machines are nice but the brand offers nothing.
Hell, even Subaru offers LOVE

 

[油井緋色]

They are overpriced and offer little value for the money compared to other brands.
They don't like small cars in the US because they are getting FATTER.
Have you noticed how much BIGGER the CIVIC and CAMRY have become?

Suzuki was and is boring for cars. They appeal to nobody really and offer nothing. The machines are nice but the brand offers nothing.
Hell, even Subaru offers LOVE

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not but there is a bit of truth to what you say when you Google "obesity rates" lol

 

[sid_for_speed]

Suzuki is HUGGGHHH!!! in Asia...they sell these little cars in Asia by the bazillions!

But they cannot compete with the big and bold cars of NA. They will probably come back to NA once they see gas prices are forcing people to buy smarter,smaller cars. Until then, they can more than sustain themselves by just staying in Europe and Asia.

But it's the smart thing to do actually! Why modify entire production lines to make big cars when you know the market for them is diminishing. I think they will just wait it out

 

[PSY]

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not but there is a bit of truth to what you say when you Google "obesity rates" lol

Serious, that's why those cars have gotten BIGGER.

 

[PSY]

Suzuki is HUGGGHHH!!! in Asia...they sell these little cars in Asia by the bazillions!

But they cannot compete with the big and bold cars of NA. They will probably come back to NA once they see gas prices are forcing people to buy smarter,smaller cars. Until then, they can more than sustain themselves by just staying in Europe and Asia.

But it's the smart thing to do actually! Why modify entire production lines to make big cars when you know the market for them is diminishing. I think they will just wait it out

Not entirely true. Fiat is doing well with a little car.
The Yaris and Prius , oh and the Smart car all do well. They have a market and appealing products.
They know how to market and make an appealing product.

 

[Julz]

All their cars are ugly anyways and I don't know what their selling point is. Their slogan "It's fun to drive"...it's a freakin sedan! not a motorcycle.

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