Holy Crap! Suzuki America files for Chapter 11

[ute]

LOL....I did daily it for about 5 years .....34 kms Highway ....yupper it was a white knuckler sometimes gave the term SWB a whole new meaning

Also it made my YJ feel huge !!

and you have to love the wax  bowl choke !!!! -25c it did not seem to comprehend

But as you guys have said they did lose there way 

[ducatiz]

Not really much of a surprise.  Their cars were always crap.

Really??

Suzuki designed and manufactures (at a joint GM/Suzu factory) the Equinox.

They also made the Swift (sold as the Chevy Aveo in the US)

I drove a friends SX4 -- I was impressed with it.  I thought it was a shame they weren't more common, it was a very nice AWD car.

[corey]

not a big fan of the name, but I always thought the "kizashi" was a pretty slick looking little car.
i personally don't think their marketing was a problem â€" they had plenty of commercials that didn't say anything "motorcycle" at all in my eyes... the eskimo campaign for instance.

i think their real problem is that for some reason, as displayed in this thread even, there is a stigma in existence that their cars are pieces of crap that aren't going to last. Whether it was ever true or not, i'm not sure... but people have that mindsight, and would rather pay a little more cheese for a car that doesn't say "Suzuki" on it.

[ducatiz]

Its' funny to me because when you're in N Afrika, that is one of the most common vehicles you see -- Suzuki jeeps and small trucks (along side the Toyota HiLuxes)

Lots of Fiats too, but the jeeps were mostly Suzukis and Daihatsus and they were pretty tough.

[duccarlos]

Sukz are popular everywhere except NA. I was going to say only the US, but I doubt you'll see many in Canada, eh? Maybe not as popular in Europe either, since they have a ton of manufacturers that make good small cars.

Anyway, down here in the 3rd world, you see them everywhere. They are by no means a luxury brand, but they do make the Kizashi that can be compared to the Lancer.

[Howie]

Suzuki, IMO, (excluding the Sidekick, Tracker and one or two others) simply entered late into a well saturated market with a good, but underwhelming product and, unlike the Korean cars, no price advantage.  As far as reliability goes, from a Suzuki tech I know, quite good, except for the few that were re-badged GM cars like the later Vitaras. 

[Bill in OKC]

Suzuki had some good ideas.  The GSX-R4 roadster would have been a seller IMHO if they had ever gotten them past regulations and into showrooms.  Then the Equator - a re-trimmed Nissan - RMZ-4 exercise.  It was trimmed out specially to haul motorcycles...  What ever happened to that?  It was a good idea but never materialized.  Even the Ford Harley trucks are nothing special to haul bikes with.  Something or somebody kept Suzuki from playing with the big boys.

[reebok]

Just remember that the distributor has gone bellyup, not suzuki.

Is even possible that this is a deliberate strategy to wrest control over distribution rights.

[fastwin]

Does this make my 'Busa or Gixxers collectors items?

[Kev M]

Just remember that the distributor has gone bellyup, not suzuki.

Is even possible that this is a deliberate strategy to wrest control over distribution rights.

More importantly they're not ceasing automotive production, just pulling automotive distribution out of the US.

As for bikes, they're not pulling them out of the US at all.

[koko64]

The Swift is selling well down here. You see them everywhere.
You guys get the Hayabusa morphing into a Kizashi advertisement?