SUZUKI BANKRUPT ??? Thatis the question!

Did anyone hear this ?
Is the rumor true???
If so haw will it affect the motorcycle industry ?

Suzuki's American car dealers are calling it quits, not the powersports/outdoor stuff. Suzuki Japan will continue to engineer bikes we love to complain about.
 
Suzuki as a company has huge sales volume of small cars in India and throughout Asia, but they haven't connected well with the American market, and there is plenty of evidence that the US auto distribution side was poorly managed (from Japan). It is only the US auto distribution that is going bankrupt. This is a separate corporate entity from Suzuki in Japan. Suzuki Canada - which is another separate corporate entity - claims that they will continue selling cars in Canada, although I suspect that given their low sales volume and with no longer being able to piggyback Transport Canada certification on top of US EPA and DOT certification, they are going to have trouble introducing new products in the future ... it will cost them a fair bit per vehicle. If the distribution-network issues really are originating from Japan, it's a fair guess that the same sorts of issues affect how Suzuki Japan looks after Suzuki Canada, which means they had better shape up, or else. Suzuki plans to continue with the powersports division in both Canada and USA.

You can't tell dealers what they have to sell and how many of each and at what price. People have to actually want to buy the product and open their wallets, and you can't force them to do it (aside from slashing prices at the end of the year of all your unsold products that people didn't want to buy). It should be a "pull" relationship, not a "push". As far as I can tell, none of the Japanese bike manufacturers realizes this. The Europeans seem to have figured it out, at least to some extent.
 
I have a vested interest as I own 2 Suzuki SX4's, and have friends who own them too. Best most reliable cars I've ever owned, my buddy has only owned (made in Japan only,there's a big difference) Suzuki cars for the past 20 years. That's my opinion with owning these cars. Here's a link interviewing the Suzuki Canada President. He has no clue what's going to happen either it seems. They have "8" people working at their head office it says. They try to be efficient, maybe too efficient. Read the comments below too.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/11/suzuki-death-watch-11-is-suzuki-canada-really-safe/
 
Did anyone hear this ?
Is the rumor true???

Hyundai and Kia took the spot of "cheap and decent" in the small import car category.

This spelled the end of Suzuki auto in the US. They simply couldn't compete anymore.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/suzuki-ends-u-s-car-sales-why-it-had-to-do-it/


Interesting point in the article..... its seems that the mighty once bankrupt gov't saved GM that we all know and love for high quality and great products is the common denominator for most of these failures, because "eight other makers that left the US market all were either subsidiaries of or close partners with General Motors."

:laughing3:
 
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Hyundai and Kia took the spot of "cheap and decent" in the small import car category.

This spelled the end of Suzuki auto in the US. They simply couldn't compete anymore.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/suzuki-ends-u-s-car-sales-why-it-had-to-do-it/


Interesting point in the article..... its seems that the mighty once bankrupt gov't saved GM that we all know and love for high quality and great products is the common denominator for most of these failures, because "eight other makers that left the US market all were either subsidiaries of or close partners with General Motors."

:laughing3:

Yeah it was a big mark against them in my books when I found out they are partners with GM. Still probably would've bought the SX4 if it had at least a little more punch. Different AWD system would've been nice, too. And some extra options (ie sunroof and whatnot) without going aftermarket. Although the dealership was willing to install any aftermarket options I wanted (including a turbo), include it in the financing, and honor the factory warranty. Even said if Suzuki denied any warranty claim the dealership would absorb it. They seemed desperate for a sale. Even let me off road the thing during the test the drive (actually I didn't even ask to, they just offered). Fun little car to off road.
 
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The XL7 was produced in conjunction with GM,shared the same platform as the Torrent and Equinox, difference was GM used transmissions from China. The SX4 has nothing to do with GM. A little more punch than 150 hp for the money? It's not a sports car and putting a turbo in it is useless. You might as well buy a car that comes with one from the factory for 10 grand more. Different AWD system? What is wrong with AWD on command, I personally don't want/need AWD all the time. it's in FWD normally, hit the switch- AWD, hit the lock button, AWD lock. Yes Lock! . I suggest to some of posters to do their homework before discussing something they know little about. Honda Fit , Made in China for the CDN. market only. You can keep it. My SX4 -5 years 150,000 kms. the only expense was brakes, the rest was regular fluid changes as per the maintenance schedule. I'm happy. I fear that Canada may be next to close the doors.
 
I know how the AWD system works. I did a lot of research into it. Wasn't interested in a FWD biased car. It needed more torque. It felt slower than my 150 HP '87 944. If it had a 2.5 instead of a 2.0 it probably would've been great. I didn't buy the new Impreza for the same reason. Nothing WRONG with the car. I just wanted something with a little more pick up. It was close, though. Saying it's not a sports car isn't really valid since I've driven many things that aren't sports cars and they still pick up better than the SX4. And I've driven sports cars with less.
 
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The XL7 was produced in conjunction with GM,shared the same platform as the Torrent and Equinox, difference was GM used transmissions from China. . .

Not that it's a bad thing. A lot of people think that Suzuki has to be crap because they were / are dealing with GM. Just for the record, Torrent and Equinox are not dirty words, these are decent vehicles and the reliability is not bad.

Take a look at the 2013 Suzuki Grand Vitara... nice truck! I wrote this before, much better than the RAV4... same price or cheaper
 
As long as gixxers exist... they shall never go bankrupt... They should also make the gixxer a company flag
 
Welcome to 5 weeks ago.
 
Those damn unions brought another one down!

Not to many people know about the Japanese car unions. :-)

https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/spe/article/download/11239/8131

"Workers at Suzuki unionized in 1946 as part of the great labour offensive that saw union densities shoot up from zero to over fifty percent between 1945 and 1949. Affiliated to the Shizuoka branch of the Japan Metalworkers Union, the Suzuki local won a landmark first contract in August 1948.9 Under the new contract Suzuki employees won a closed shop, a union veto over hiring and firing, fifty percent repre- sentation on the management council, and the right to auto- matically and indefinitely extend the contract upon expiry if a new collective agreement could not be concluded.l? These gains were not bestowed upon workers by a benevo- lent employer but wrested from Suzuki through union strug- gles, including rotating strikes,mass negotiations and oc- cupations."


http://radicalnotes.com/2011/09/22/...labor-activities-japanese-unions-tell-suzuki/
 
Interesting point in the article..... its seems that the mighty once bankrupt gov't saved GM that we all know and love for high quality and great products is the common denominator for most of these failures, because "eight other makers that left the US market all were either subsidiaries of or close partners with General Motors."

GM gutted Suzuki by replacing most of the original Suzuki-built models with re-badged Daewoos, which were much poorer quality. Suzuki never recovered from that.
 
GM gutted Suzuki by replacing most of the original Suzuki-built models with re-badged Daewoos, which were much poorer quality. Suzuki never recovered from that.

Not sure how good there quality was to begin with? I was quite shocked they had no CMM at their Ingersoll facility before they started the Equinox.
 
I know how the AWD system works. I did a lot of research into it. Wasn't interested in a FWD biased car. It needed more torque. It felt slower than my 150 HP '87 944. If it had a 2.5 instead of a 2.0 it probably would've been great. I didn't buy the new Impreza for the same reason. Nothing WRONG with the car. I just wanted something with a little more pick up. It was close, though. Saying it's not a sports car isn't really valid since I've driven many things that aren't sports cars and they still pick up better than the SX4. And I've driven sports cars with less.
I agree it is a slug out of the hole, waiting a bit for the ponies to kick in sucks but I'm ok with that. Oh and as far as my quote on no recalls? I spoke too soon, the UK model has a recall on their shocks I just read, I must look into this further.

http://clubsx4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4550
 
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