Gojirra99

2005 New York Auto Show

Isuzu puts sales hopes into pickups

Japanese automaker aims to gain market share, polish its image with 2 new trucks.

By Brett Clanton / The Detroit News


NEW YORK -- It helped pioneer the SUV craze of the 1980s and 1990s. And after Isuzu Motors Ltd.'s formal U.S. debut in 1981, it sold more than 100,000 vehicles a year for well over a decade.

But a lack of investment in new products and a crush of new SUVs from rivals have nearly crowded the Japanese truck specialist out of the U.S. market.

With just two nearly identical SUV models to sell, down from four in 1999, its U.S. sales dropped 9 percent last year to 27,000, and have tumbled 36 percent so far this year.

Now the company is counting on two new pickups debuting this summer to recover ground in the U.S. market. They will become the automaker's first pickup trucks sold in North America since the Hombre was dropped in 2000.

Because plans to sell a compact SUV imported from Thailand have been scrapped, the midsize pickups -- the i-280 and i-350 -- unveiled Thursday at the New York auto show may be the automaker's last stand.

Isuzu's starved U.S. dealers say they can sell 5,000 to 10,000 of the pickups a year.

"Anything will help," said Arch McKinnon, sales manager of Clay Cooley Isuzu in Dallas.

At Isuzu's peak between 1996 and 2001, when the Trooper SUV was still in showrooms, top dealers sold between 1,500 and 1,800 vehicles a year, he said. "Now, a good store does 20 a month."

The pickups will double Isuzu's truck offerings to four models in North America. The company currently markets the five- and seven-passenger Ascender SUV.

With less than 1 percent share of the U.S. market, "we have nowhere to go but up," said Isuzu spokesman Chip Letzgus.

General Motors Corp., which owns a 12 percent stake in the company, served as lead engineer on the pickups. They bear a strong resemblance to GM's Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize trucks that were introduced last year.

The first vehicle built by Isuzu and sold in the U.S. was based on GM's Chevy LUV truck, which debuted in 1972. By the early 80s, Isuzu had developed its own midsize truck -- the Pup. "Today, we return to our roots," said J. Terry Maloney, president of Isuzu's U.S. sales arm.

Analysts say Isuzu may struggle to find buyers because the small and midsize pickup market is shrinking and becoming more competitive with new entries from Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

"Isuzu is still really struggling with its brand image," said Mark Brueggemann, senior editor of Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, Calif. "It's kind of like having a Daewoo. Do you really want to tell people you drive a Daewoo?"

Another hurdle: The resale value of Isuzu vehicles remains below the industry average of 25 percent after five years, Brueggemann said.

But **** Navarre, an Isuzu salesman at Tamaroff Automotive Group in Southfield, said the new models will quiet speculation that the company will pull out of the U.S. market.

"If they were going to leave," he said, "they would have done it by now."

Also Thursday at the New York Auto Show, Suzuki Motor Corp. rolled out a new compact SUV concept that hints at a future vehicle from the Japanese automaker.

The Suzuki Concept-X2 is a sporty hauler with a V-6 engine that produces 185-horsepower. It is similar in size to the Hyundai Tucson or Toyota Rav4.

"Our 20 years of experience in the U.S. SUV market have taught us that SUV enthusiasts don't want to have to sacrifice their own quest for adventure and unique way of life simply because they drive a compact SUV," Koichi Suzuki, president of American Suzuki Motor Corp., said in a statement.

During the past two years, Suzuki has launched four new vehicles as part of a new sales push. But the company has not announced plans to produce the Concept-X2 or a vehicle like it.

source HERE

mmarshall

LOL. Some of these newspaper auto writers just kill me with their double-talk.

"Bear a resemblance" to the Colorado and Canyon? Come on, ace.....call this truck what it IS.....a rebadged 100% Chevy/GMC, not a Isuzu design "resembling" them. In that way it is JUST like the Ascender.
Now, having said that, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Like the Ascender, Isuzu can sell this truck at a lower price and with a better warranty than GM can with the same vehicle under the Chevy and GMC nameplates....and this will increase their chances of remaining here in the U.S. market, at least short-term if not long-term. If THIS truck doesn't sell, though, I think we can stick a fork in Isuzu's U.S. market.

RX469

iTrader: (1)

is right on!!!

ARISTO*7

i think the aztec is alot worse looking.

CleanSC

Just what GM needs. To wh0re off one of their truck designs under ANOTHER badge.

For a company that makes x amount of trucks, yet sells them under 4x different badges, do they really need this?

As for Isuzu, no comment. Why they are even here I have no idea. 2 trucks. TWO! And they didn't even make them.

My buddy's Ascender is PURE GM. You look under the hood and all you see is GM stamped on everything.

Why?

mmarshall

Yes...the SAME vehicle is sold in Chevy, (TrailBlazer) GMC, (Envoy), Buick (Rainier), Saab (9-7X), and Isuzu (Ascender) versions. However....like I said in my earlier post, that is not necessarily a bad thing...........Isuzu gives you a lower price and a better warranty than ANY of the other versions.

And GM is not alone in doing this....Ford also clones basically the same SUV's under several different names, too.............as in the Expedition / Navigator and the Explorer / Mountaineer / Aviator. Many others do too, including Toyota / Lexus, Honda / Acura, and Nissan / Infiniti.

You ask WHY? Simple.....it makes the design process easier, keeps costs down, capitalizes on proven designs, and makes for a much-less-cluttered parts department.

CleanSC

Toyota's shared platforms make much more sense. The Highlander and the RX330 are totally different machines, for different markets, and different prices. Same with the ES/Camry.

GM's clones are mostly redundant. The models you mentioned, Chevy, (TrailBlazer) GMC, (Envoy), Buick (Rainier), Saab (9-7X), and Isuzu (Ascender) all cost roughly the same except the Saab which is naturally higher. They all do basically the same thing.

What about a Chevy S-10, and a GMC Sonoma? Or the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon? Or the Chevy Silverado and the GMC Sierra? These are exact copies of each other with identical MSRP's... So what's the purpose...? And there's more, I only mentioned pickups here... The SUV segment is much more prolific in this regard.

The japs do NOT try this. Where's the Tundra clone? Ridgeline clone? Titan clone? There aren't any. One is enough. No need to invent brands and badges when they are all the same thing. Toyota's 3 US market divisions are very well defined and distinct. Same goes for Honda/Acura and Nissan/Infiniti.

Now in GM's defense, the Lincoln and Cadillac trucks are exempt here. There IS a difference in price and options tho they aren't any more reliable. It's the others that are fraternal twins that I can't see the purpose of.

gsWarrior

i didnt know Isuzu was still around

flipside909

I'd have to say the Ridgeline is uglier than this truck.

LexFather

So Isuzu is nothing more than all rebadged GMs? Sad. And its ugly but I've seen uglier.

mmarshall

You got it...........at least here in the American market.

GS300Rich

There are worse out there, not a lot but a few, just mho.

STIG

i dont understand why ISUZU is doing this rebadging GM POS trucks for north america market. in asia market, ISUZU trucks are not too bad. i like them. may be those trucks are not qualified for smog laws for the US.

btw, Aztec is way uglier than this.

mmarshall

I agree.....this truck is way short of the Aztek in barf-ability. The Aztek is truly a classic.

Isuzu DOES sell some larger trucks here in the American market....but they are commercial-grade, not things that you would buy off a showroom floor.

http://www.foutsbros.com/ click on "Isuzu trucks"

<VENOM>

So GM rebadges this thing and sells it for less with a better warranty, why don't they just take all the cost associated with a rebadged Isuzu and offer the same price from Chevy and give the customer a free extended warranty