Brand X packs it in.....

[motownr]

Anyone care to name the brand that is quietly going around buying back its franchises....and promising not to return to their market? It's not Isuzu.....not Mitsu..... Bueller????

[NOS2006]

What?

[Croc]

Suzuki?

[Croc]

...but Suzuki has had a LOT of commercials lately...

[Croc]

What?

[post="39171"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

NOS--watch an 80s movie every now and then...

[VenSeattle]

Are you referring to the NA/US market or globally? Because rumor is VW is about to give Audi control over SEAT, and in the process completely phase out the SEAT brand. Spain isn't happy. The market, franchises, and plants would be converted to Audi or be closed. If not VW in Europe with SEAT... then I'd say Volkswagen itself in the US. It almost happened before in the mid 1990's and it could be happening now. Edited November 6, 2005 by VenSeattle

[Croc]

Nah...VW isn't pulling out of the US anytime soon. Their sales might be down, but they aren't BAD sales.

[VenSeattle]

Well... Year-to-date VW as a whole is down over 17%. Touareg is down almost 37% alone. Passat sedan/wagon are down 31%. The Jetta is the only thing positive. But I think it could have more to do with international cash problems and the recent scandals. We'll see. I'm very curious as to who he's alluding to.

[regfootball]

didn't toyota just buy subaru? or is this saab? kia? Edited November 6, 2005 by regfootball

[Croc]

Kia is owned by Hyundai...they aren't going anywhere. SAAB will stay; they have new product on the way. If he's referring to SEAT that will make the most sense IMO.

[VenSeattle]

didn't toyota just buy subaru?

or is this saab?

kia?

[post="39234"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Toyota purchased less than half (45%) of GM's original investment in Subaru (Fuji Heavy). In comparison, Toyota owns a 9% investment to GM's original 20% investment in Subaru (Fuji Heavy).

excuse me... aftering looking up to Verify... Toyota purchased 8.7%. The other 11.3% was sold by GM on the open market. Edited November 6, 2005 by VenSeattle

[Flybrian]

I would say Bricklin's Chery, but that would mean some fool would've had to buy into his plan.

[Croc]

Another good call. Hopefully it won't ever come here. The US auto market is well saturated.

[Dsuupr]

Suzuki seems like the most logical choice here. They aren't going anywhere at the moment, and they don't fit well with the rest of GM.

[motownr]

Suzuki seems like the most logical choice here.  They aren't going anywhere at the moment, and they don't fit well with the rest of GM.

[post="39292"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Bingo.

So far, the buyouts have been limited to Midwest markets. However, it probably isn't too much of stretch to say the crack in the dam is now started.

Will be interesting to see if they can hang on to an ongoing presence in the NA Edited November 6, 2005 by motownr

[pow]

Maserati?

[rimtrim]

I'm not that familiar with franchise practices...but do you mean that these dealers are being bought out and closed down? It seems like, if this were happening on a large scale, Automotive News would have written something about it by now. They usually cover a lot of dealership-related stuff. And it doesn't make sense to me that the brand would be shrinking its dealer base while sales are on the increase. I could see Mitsu, Isuzu or VW shutting down some underperforming dealers, because their sales have declined significantly over the past few years and they may just have too many dealers. But Suzuki never had many dealers in the first place. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. -Andrew L

[motownr]

Cost of sales is just as important as revenue from sales. I'm sure the story will eventually get out....it'll be interesting to see how far the retrenchment goes....maybe they limit it to just markets that have a domestic bias and large populations of EP buyers. As the market consolidates, some of the struggling brands will find that they need their dealers more than their dealers need them. Suzuki has a reputation for being a lousy group to do business with...delusional expectations for exclusivity, signage, facility, etc....from what I hear, the factory/dealer culture is as adversarial as Nissan's...at least with Nissan, you get a full-line to go along with their ugly ways of doing business.

[balthazar]

What's the deal on izusu dealers- they have to be nearly extinct by now.

Quite the exodus the likes of which we haven't seen in years: suzuki going, izusu going, mitsu slipping quicker than a rocket sled, VW on rocky ground.... Nice to see some foreign brands going into the U.S. market graveyard for a change.

[Petra]

Funny... I seem to recall Suzuki proclaiming not too long ago that they were going to increase their sales dramatically over the next few years. Indeed, their sales have been increasing. I don't think Suzuki is preparing to leave the market. It seems to me that they're looking to eliminate waste by getting rid of dealerships that don't do enough business, or cannabalize sales from other Suzuki dealerships. GM is doing the same sort of thing by combining Pontiac, Buick & GMC dealers into one, big dealership.

[balthazar]

Combining stand alone dealerships to join the majority Buick-Pontiac-GMC format is not the same thing as buying franchises back and replacing them with nothing, at least in my book. And I would be shocked (& awed) if 2 suzuki dealerships were geographically close enough to cannabalize sales off each other...

[pow]

Their new Grand Vitara should help with sales... it's got a low price, a solid design, and lots of clever technology. I'd get one over a RAV4, CR-V, Tucson, or Escape.

[motownr]

Funny... I seem to recall Suzuki proclaiming not too long ago that they were going to increase their sales dramatically over the next few years. Indeed, their sales have been increasing.

I don't think Suzuki is preparing to leave the market. It seems to me that they're looking to eliminate waste by getting rid of dealerships that don't do enough business, or cannabalize sales from other Suzuki dealerships. GM is doing the same sort of thing by combining Pontiac, Buick & GMC dealers into one, big dealership.

[post="40029"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Lots of companies proclaim that they are going to increase sales dramatically. Didn't some genius at Pontiac say that next year is good for a 25% bump?

Suzuki is struggling, period. The cost of sales is killing them, and they, as mentioned, have a rotten reputation.

These were single points in metro markets.

[Sixty8panther]

What's the deal on izusu dealers- they have to be nearly extinct by now.

Quite the exodus the likes of which we haven't seen in years: suzuki going, izusu going, mitsu slipping quicker than a rocket sled, VW on rocky ground.... Nice to see some foreign brands going into the U.S. market graveyard for a change.

[post="39504"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Hells Yeah Bro.... I'd love to see a few redundant brands bite the bullet... like um... *Coughonda-Cough* *COUGHtoyota- Cough-COUGH*

Not that I'm holding my breath for either. :P

There's only two Japanese brands in the US that I believe are deserving of their market share: Nissan/Infiniti & Subaru. Both have a few decent models and some amount of imagination & inovation.

[VenSeattle]

If Suzuki backs out of the US, Chevrolet could market the Daewoo sub-compacts & compacts in the US market without them appearing as clones. Chevrolet's line-up would become more like its international line-up. This would be good for GMNA because Chevrolet's line-up would be able to remain price competitive yet continue to offer unique products not sold by other US divisions. Chevrolet, BPG, Saturn, and Cadillac would all have a large portfolio of unique vehicles that wouldn't be immediately cross-shopped.

[pow]

If Suzuki backs out of the US, Chevrolet could market the Daewoo sub-compacts & compacts in the US market without them appearing as clones. Chevrolet's line-up would become more like its international line-up.

This would be good for GMNA because Chevrolet's line-up would be able to remain price competitive yet continue to offer unique products not sold by other US divisions. Chevrolet, BPG, Saturn, and Cadillac would all have a large portfolio of unique vehicles that wouldn't be immediately cross-shopped.

[post="40151"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Good point... all the compact and lower-midsize cars can be international Chevys (Daewoos, for now). Suzuki has their own line-up of original cars (Swift, Liana/Aerio, Grand Vitara), which are all pretty decent.

[ToniCipriani]

Probably not Saab, as Saab and Saturn are the same dealers here.

[Shantanu]

There's no reason for Suzuki to be selling cars in America. They are owned 20% by GM. GM should twist their arm to pull out, and offer to sell some rebadged Suzukis (the better ones) as Chevrolets instead. That way both parties benefit.

[Robert Hall]

There's no reason for Suzuki to be selling cars in America.  They are owned 20% by GM.  GM should twist their arm to pull out, and offer to sell some rebadged Suzukis (the better ones) as Chevrolets instead.  That way both parties benefit.

[post="40999"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Yeah, the Daewoo based models would be good to see badged as Chevys here as they are in Canada....the new Grand Vitara would make a nice entry-level SUV below the Equinox for Chevy, I think...