How Suzuki USA Could Have Saved Itself

Suzuki Jimney. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Tennen-Gas

Yesterday American Suzuki Motor Corporation filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. That means we?ll no longer see new Suzuki cars and trucks on our roads after the current inventory has been sold, though sales of Suzuki?s motorcycles, ATVs, and marine products will continue.

It didn?t have to be this way if Suzuki had decided to sell proper Suzukis in the United States.

Suzuki?s cars and SUVs have sold unimpressively for years. In 2011 the company moved just 26,619 vehicles, up from 23,994 the year before. One very big reason: Suzuki?s cars and trucks haven?t reflected any sort of clear or consistent product direction. Consumers didn?t know what "Suzuki" really meant as a brand or a car.

In the U.S. the Suzuki name represented a grab bag of products. There were sedans manufactured in Korea through GM?s Daewoo Auto Technology (DAT) division. There was an extra-long version of the last-generation Chevy Equinox that Suzuki sold as the XL-7. And there was the Suzuki Equator, a thinly disguised Nissan Frontier pickup truck. It was that lack of focus that led to dismal sales.

The Suzuki brand should have been synonymous with small, fun-to-drive cars and trucks?vehicles that were innovative and unlike anything else. The 2010 Kizashi, a sporty midsize sedan, was a step in the right direction. But the company had vehicles right in its own stable that would have been solid additions to its U.S. roster. The Suzuki Swift and Swift Sport are sprightly subcompacts that the company sells in other countries. They could have been solid entry-level driver?s cars for America and stiff competition for cars like the Ford Fiesta and Honda Fit.

Or consider the Jimny, another Japanese-market Suzuki that might have sold well here. Picture a smaller and more affordable Jeep Wrangler. The Jimny has solid axles front and rear and the capability of, well, a Jeep. Suzuki should have developed this small 4WD trucklet from the start to meet U.S. crash standards and engineered it to include a four-door version to make it even more appealing for families. Jeep sells more than 100,000 Wranglers a year. There?s no reason Suzuki couldn?t have sold a quarter as many Jimnys.

While the Swift and the Jimny could have anchored the bottom end of a reimagined Suzuki family, the automaker would have needed sportier small cars too. The inspiration could have come directly from Suzuki?s motorcycle division. Since the 1980s the company?s GSX-R sportbikes have built a reputation for extreme performance. These bikes are legendary. So why not develop a few cars that tap into that DNA?

A small rear-wheel-drive roadster with an automotive engine that revved like a sportbike would be on our wish list. Suzuki made a car just like that in the 1990s called the Cappuccino but never imported it to our shores. A small performance sedan built on those same principles might have been a hit too. Imagine what Suzuki motorcycle engineers could build if they were tasked with creating a smaller, lighter Subaru WRX.

A refocused Suzuki could have attracted enthusiasts yearning for inexpensive Japanese performance cars. But instead Suzuki chased unrealistic sales goals with pedestrian conveyances developed by other car companies. Suzuki USA could have been?and should have been?so much more.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/how-suzuki-usa-could-have-saved-itself-14544833?src=rss

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