REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

frostycc · 02-17-2012, 08:40 AM

The very first car I ever bought (which I still drive today) is a 2002 Suzuki Aerio. I bought it in 2009 and for the first year and a half I was getting it serviced at the Jim Pattison Suzuki dealership in Burnaby, B.C. Then one day, that dealership went belly up.

Fast forward to the present. I'm looking at Suzuki.ca's line up and there are 6 models to choose from. 4 are model year 2011's and 2 are model year 2010's (Swift and Equator). It seems as if Suzuki Canada is not getting any new models. It is already 2012. I've looked at online inventory for all B.C dealers and their levels of new cars are really really low.

In addition, they seem to have some of the best promotions for their new cars. No payments for 120 days + 0% for 72 months on select models (which is most, given their low stock). Some dealers off lifetime oil change and car washes. There is also a promotion to save 40c/liter for 1 year on gas. It seems they are doing anything to get rid of their last few remaining stock.

Is Suzuki Automotive (I know their bike and other industries are still competitive) going to withdraw completely from the Canadian market in the next 1-2 years?

Which begs another question. I'm interested in buying a new Suzuki car in the next 6 months when I graduate from school. These incentives are too good to pass up. However, what happens if I finance at 0% for 72 months and in 36 months they go bankrupt or decide to leave the Canadian market? What happens to payments then?

What are people's thoughts on this brand and its situation in general?

supafamous · 02-17-2012, 08:49 AM

I wouldn't be surprised to see Suzuki pull out in the next couple years. The market is consolidating around the big guys as the cost to meet safety and fuel economy regulations are so high now.

Even a company the size of Mazda is slowly dying (I'm quite sad about this). You could even make the case that Honda is on that slope too, they're just not big enough to spend a few billion dollars on designing and tooling up leading edge technology without hurting some other aspect of the business.

mos_skeeto · 02-17-2012, 09:27 AM

I think they need a miracle. Shame because I hear good things about their cars. There was another revscene post about a cool Swift that might come over. Not sure if that's going to happen but it's a step in the right direction. Few months ago I read an article about issues they had with VW. Apparently they want to split from VW but I wasn't sure what happened with that. I own a Mitsubishi and I'm a little bit afraid of their future as well. I would gravitate towards a Subaru for my next car for that reason. Oh and resale value might be an issue.

G-spec · 02-17-2012, 09:33 AM

It's easy to see why they're going out of business if you've owned a Suzuki and dealt with them in the last 5 years or so....
Suzuki fans in here sorry, but I don't feel sorry for them at all, my parents the other year bought a newer model Suzuki XL7, 2008 I think.... let's just say it was NOT a good experience all around, from the quality of the car to the dealership.... if you can't get a typical segment SUV model right Suzuki, you got no business being in the game

wasabisashimi · 02-17-2012, 11:02 AM

didnt they just mass marketing the kezashi 4wd sedan? I see the commercial all the time 2 month ago.

frostycc · 02-17-2012, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wasabisashimi

didnt they just mass marketing the kezashi 4wd sedan? I see the commercial all the time 2 month ago.

They did, and I think it's a somewhat competitive car. However, I don't think sales are that great due to lack of awareness and the general feeling of "meh" towards Suzuki's in general.

TypeRNammer · 02-17-2012, 11:46 AM

They really need to bring over the JDM spec Swift.
Posted via RS Mobile

falcon · 02-17-2012, 02:12 PM

Suzuki is slowly going out of business everywhere, not just Canada. That is except for the motorcycle segment.

bcrdukes · 02-17-2012, 02:18 PM

I don't remember the source but I read somewhere that Suzuki's automotive division is slowly pulling out of North America.

Jgresch · 02-17-2012, 02:18 PM

Suzuki doesn't really care about it's Canada market. And each dealership only
got 1 or 2 kizashis, plus unlike the states you couldn't choose any options or models, there was only 1. Burnaby Suzuki didn't only close because Suzuki was doing poor, there were a lot of reasons.
Posted via RS Mobile

frostycc · 02-17-2012, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jgresch

Suzuki doesn't really care about it's Canada market. And each dealership only
got 1 or 2 kizashis, plus unlike the states you couldn't choose any options or models, there was only 1. Burnaby Suzuki didn't only close because Suzuki was doing poor, there were a lot of reasons.
Posted via RS Mobile

Care to elaborate? I only bought my 2002 Aerio in 2009 and it wasn't from a Suzuki dealership. The only time I went there was for oil changes and a brakepad change one time. Overall service wasn't exemplary but there were no rudeness or problems either. It seemed more like I was another 1 in a 1000 customers asking for routine work.

Jgresch · 02-17-2012, 04:51 PM

The store was doing poor 10 years earlier when it was GM, for a lot of reasons I shouldn't get into. It was changed to Suzuki in hopes things would change but they didn't.
Posted via RS Mobile

BaoTurbo · 02-17-2012, 05:58 PM

I think they are falling behind already. Or behind

some_punk · 02-17-2012, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jgresch

Suzuki doesn't really care about it's Canada market. And each dealership only
got 1 or 2 kizashis, plus unlike the states you couldn't choose any options or models, there was only 1. Burnaby Suzuki didn't only close because Suzuki was doing poor, there were a lot of reasons.
Posted via RS Mobile

I work at north vancouver suzuki and we only got 1 kizashi, and it rarely gets test driven. (who would want to buy a car that means "symptoms" in japanese?) and the newer XL7 is a chevy equinox with a slightly different engine and seats 7. now that they are getting older, the XL7s are at the point where things go wrong, biggest thing is the timing chain stretching causing a CEL. Previous swifts are just the same as chevy aveo and daewoo something, unsafe and I would just stay away from it.

Matlock · 02-17-2012, 07:42 PM

Suzuki is apparently planning to freshen up it's lineup. Everything is kept very tight lipped at the moment.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120213/RETAIL07/302139981/1379

I would like to see the Swift and Jimny make their way to NA.

Gridlock · 02-17-2012, 09:40 PM

We really are going through a shift, in much the same way that there was a paradigm shift in the 70's due to the oil crisis. The government of the time imposed new regulations on the industry, which was a major factor to the decline of the domestic manufacture of cars IMO. That move finally killed a lot of the smaller players in the market.

Fast forward, and it happens again, this time to hybrid/electric. Once again, you kill a bunch of small players that can't afford to adapt.

Can Suzuki afford to play? I don't think so. If you could stay on the current path of building cars people want to buy and update to stay fresh in the market, you stand a chance, but every car manufacturer right now is forced with the choice to re-invest in their business to transition to "some fuel saving technology" as there are several choices now, or basically die/pull out of market.

North America is a fickle beast to sell cars in. Think about how many large car makers in the world have absolutely no presence in North America...Renault(joint ownership of Nissan has them exposed only) Peugeot and Fiat-yeah, they have their toes in now, but that was a freebie.

Mazda is an interesting one to watch. Can they pull it off? I'm not sure, is Ford still involved with them, or have they sold off their investment in them?

Jgresch · 02-17-2012, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by some_punk

I work at north vancouver suzuki and we only got 1 kizashi, and it rarely gets test driven. (who would want to buy a car that means "symptoms" in japanese?) and the newer XL7 is a chevy equinox with a slightly different engine and seats 7. now that they are getting older, the XL7s are at the point where things go wrong, biggest thing is the timing chain stretching causing a CEL. Previous swifts are just the same as chevy aveo and daewoo something, unsafe and I would just stay away from it.

Right. Our kizashi was looked at quite a bit when it first came out, but when people found they couldn't get different trims, navi etc, they passed. I'm just saying that there were many other reasons causing the dealership to close.
Posted via RS Mobile

Harvey Specter · 02-17-2012, 10:01 PM

Suzuki reminds me of Kia a few years back. Kia's lineup was god awful, no one was buying their cars but look at what they've done over the past few years with their cars. Same could be said about Hyundai.

Give consumers good looking car, good reliability with a nice price tag and you're back in the game.

death_blossom · 02-18-2012, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jah Dean

Suzuki reminds me of Kia a few years back. Kia's lineup was god awful, no one was buying their cars but look at what they've done over the past few years with their cars. Same could be said about Hyundai.

Give consumers good looking car, good reliability with a nice price tag and you're back in the game.

I'd imagine that Hyundai spent a LOT of money in R&D and redesigning everything in their line up to what it is today. Same would go with KIA after Hyundai bought them out.

Would Suzuki be able to do the same? Hyundai of Korea has tons of money to burn as they have lots of support within their country, and their other industrial endeavors. I don't know how deep are Suzuki's pockets, in Japan.

PJ · 02-18-2012, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by death_blossom

I'd imagine that Hyundai spent a LOT of money in R&D and redesigning everything in their line up to what it is today. Same would go with KIA after Hyundai bought them out.

Would Suzuki be able to do the same? Hyundai of Korea has tons of money to burn as they have lots of support within their country, and their other industrial endeavors. I don't know how deep are Suzuki's pockets, in Japan.

^Good post, good points.

Suzuki needs to make a big change, and with their pockets being not as deep as the Japanese giants, it's going to require them to take some big risks.

Hyundai stepped it up major, along with its game changing Genesis coupe. Suzuki needs to either throw in the towel or give another big hurrah.

The thing with Suzuki is that with it's Japanese competitors, they're easily in last place.
They're not going to keep up with Honda and Toyota for reliability.
They're not going to keep up with Mitsu and Subaru's high end rally cars.
They have nothing that really catches people's eyes, or sets them apart.
The Kizashi was a solid attempt, but they need to go above and beyond the 1 car. And for the price tag of the Kizashi, it was too easy to turn to Subaru for more or less the same features.
IMO, they should follow in Hyundai's footsteps and create a similar plan.

asian_XL · 02-18-2012, 06:25 PM

eurochevy · 02-18-2012, 06:34 PM

the only suzuki's that i know ppl still enjoy buying are the bikes

twitchyzero · 02-18-2012, 06:40 PM

before you know it your suzuki is eligible for collector's plate

wasabisashimi · 02-18-2012, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asian_XL

time for them to slap on some LED DRL lights to boost sale

RRxtar · 02-18-2012, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asian_XL

is that cars or bikes or both?

that would make sense if it was motorcycles. bike sales across the board tanked in the recession. but imo, id be surprised if they sold 100,000 cars in north america in a year. and they shouldn't have been hit THAT hard, if anything id think their sales would do better now since their cars are cheaper alternatives (look at hyundai and kia sales).