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Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.

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Offline ebewley

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Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« on: March 04, 2004, 04:41:49 AM »
----COMMENT----
Edward Lapham is the executive editor of Automotive News. His writes commentaries for Automotive News online every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. His commentaries for WJR radio, 760 am, in Detroit appear online every Tuesday and Friday.
----COMMENT----

By Edward Lapham
Automotive News / March 01, 2004

March 3-- If you haven't seen the March issue of Consumer Reports, you may not realize that the magazine is still at war with Suzuki. Or, more to the point, Suzuki is still at war with Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports.

The war involves a 1988 product review of the Suzuki Samurai SUV, which the magazine judged to be "not acceptable" because of a propensity to tip in sharp turns.

Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, lays out his version of the fight in the March issue and asks readers to express their concern about the matter before it finally gets to trial, probably this year. Guest suggests that readers write to Rick Suzuki, president of American Suzuki Motor Corp., and Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors, which owns 20 percent of Suzuki Motor Corp. of Japan.

Growing significance?

What started out as a legal battle over the reputation of a defunct product that hasn't been sold here since 1995 is being cast as something much larger.

Supporters of Consumer Reports paint it as a First Amendment and public safety issue. They say that if Suzuki prevails, publications could be stifled from doing the kind of product reviews that protect and inform consumers.

Suzuki claims that the cloud hanging over the Samurai still casts a shadow over its entire product line.

It's not unusual for automakers - or other manufacturers - to take exception to a product review published in Consumer Reports, even though the magazine is acknowledged to have among the highest editorial standards for testing products. For example, when the magazine's tests determined that the Plymouth Horizon/Dodge Omni duo had a control problem in tight maneuvers, there was some sniping by Chrysler Corp.

Let's face it, people don't like to be told their baby is ugly - or unsafe - especially when they have a strong commercial interest in the tyke.

A feud for the ages

But Suzuki's campaign against Consumer Reports makes the Hatfield-McCoy feud look like a lovers' spat.

It goes back 16 years. Consumer Reports panned the Samurai in 1988 - it wasn't the first or the last published report to do so. In 1996, a year after American Suzuki stopped selling the Samurai, Suzuki sued the magazine, claiming that Consumer Reports had rigged the tests to deliberately tip the vehicle just to create headlines and sell magazines.

In 2000, a trial judge tossed the case due to insufficient evidence. But Suzuki couldn't let it go. It appealed, and a closely divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated the case. Yes, that Ninth Circuit, the same one that last October found the words "under God" to be offensive and unconstitutional in the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Supreme Court refused to stop it, so it's off to a jury trial.

Heads I win, tails you lose

What's crazy is that Suzuki can't win, even if it prevails in court.

If Suzuki loses, the case will damn the Samurai. Suzuki will have wasted millions in legal fees, defending a product it no longer sells. It will have succeeded in again dragging its own brand through the mud in a courtroom - and the press - just as it is gearing up to triple its annual U.S. sales to 200,000 in 2007.

Most Suzuki buyers don't remember the Samurai. Many weren't even in school when the review ran in Consumer Reports. But this lawsuit and the publicity it engenders will make sure that everyone knows. And even if Suzuki prevails, how many will believe the automaker anyway?

It's unlikely that a courtroom victory by Suzuki would scare off other automotive consumer publications that publish product reviews. Ethical people who buy ink by the barrel and have nothing to fear aren't scared off that easily.

This lawsuit is nothing more than a vindictive attempt to punish Consumer Reports for doing its job. That's unconscionable. It's also evidence that Suzuki is either getting some bad legal and public relations advice, or its executives are too blinded by vitriol to see the facts.

Either way, Suzuki and its dealers are losers.

Eric L. Bewley                               
Editor, ZUKIWORLD Online                   

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Offline mavapa

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2004, 05:00:40 AM »
I have to agree - Suzuki loses this one any way you look at it. I don't see how they can possibly prevail if this goes to trial.

You have to remember, the Suzuki fan belongs to a very small, unusual group. The Samurai had an appeal, and still has an appeal, to this group, and this group understands and accepts the the weaknesses in order to take advantage of the strengths.

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Offline Bobzooki

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2004, 05:44:03 AM »
I can hardly believe that there are so many nearly mint, stock Samurai's rolling around in Denver.  I mean, how could they possibly have survived this long, without being rolled on all those dangerous mountain roads?

I think one of the sticking points, is that they gave the Samurai a "you're gonna roll it" image, and essentially killed it, when the SAME RESULTS in other SUV's were treated like it was no big deal, or glossed over.  I have pictures of the Jeep Liberty up on two wheels in their testing - do they call the Liberty "tippy"?  No.
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Offline Kreg

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2004, 06:37:47 AM »
Quote
If Suzuki loses, the case will damn the Samurai. Suzuki will have wasted millions in legal fees, defending a product it no longer sells. It will have succeeded in again dragging its own brand through the mud in a courtroom - and the press - just as it is gearing up to triple its annual U.S. sales to 200,000 in 2007.


I thought the reason they don't sell the Jimny in North America is because of the way Consumer Reports butchered the Samurai

Because technically the Jimny is the "modern" Samurai so in a way that article is BS.



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Offline Kreg

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2004, 06:41:19 AM »
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I can hardly believe that there are so many nearly mint, stock Samurai's rolling around in Denver.  I mean, how could they possibly have survived this long, without being rolled on all those dangerous mountain roads?

I think one of the sticking points, is that they gave the Samurai a "you're gonna roll it" image, and essentially killed it, when the SAME RESULTS in other SUV's were treated like it was no big deal, or glossed over.  I have pictures of the Jeep Liberty up on two wheels in their testing - do they call the Liberty "tippy"?  No.


Its because they are a bunch of corrupt bastards.

I wouldn’t doubt it if the North American companies pay them off to pass their vehicles. And I wouldn’t doubt it that a North American company paid them off 16 years ago to butcher the Samurai because they were scared that it would cut into their sales.

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Offline Maiden Hell

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2004, 09:55:04 AM »
Consumers Union is full of crap.  Don't vehicles have to pass government inspections first before they can be sold?  Like WTF, man? I HATE Consumers Union, I don't trust anything they say, and I hope Suzuki wins this one, because when they do, I'm going to let CU have it in both e-mail and snail mail.

Thanks for the updates Eric, I don't even know where to find this sort of stuff on the net, but I really appreciate it.

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Offline zukmon

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2004, 10:16:06 AM »
I also dislike the CU and their way of testing cars/trucks. Alot of their ratings gauge things like how easy are the HVAC buttons to push in and other qualitative opinions. Not numbers and factual information that true enthusiasts care about. It does't take much brain power to realize that you can't throw a Samurai around the Slalom like you can Ferrari 360 Modena(or any other high performace machine).

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Offline Maiden Hell

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2004, 10:36:31 AM »
Quote
I also dislike the CU and their way of testing cars/trucks. Alot of their ratings gauge things like how easy are the HVAC buttons to push in and other qualitative opinions. Not numbers and factual information that true enthusiasts care about. It does't take much brain power to realize that you can't throw a Samurai around the Slalom like you can Ferrari 360 Modena(or any other high performace machine).


I couldn't have friggin said it better myself.  There's just so many boneheads out there that plain and simply don't know how to drive.  A drivers license means nothing... Different vehicles handle very differently under different conditions!!!!  >:(

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Offline CDAVIS00346

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bring back the samurai?!?!?!
« Reply #8 on: March 04, 2004, 12:43:15 PM »
maybe if they win!

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Offline Maiden Hell

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2004, 01:05:46 PM »
Bring back the Samurai, eh?  I wonder if that's what Suzuki would call it again...

Somehow I doubt it.  The Samurai has to much pain behind the name.... You won't ever see a Ford Pinto remake.

Jimny sounds to much like Jimmy...

If they do bring it out here, it would be a sweet, sweet ride.










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Offline Kreg

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2004, 05:24:55 PM »
Gah!

Don't post stuf flike that, I'm getting a hard on  :P

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Offline tonka-toy

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #11 on: March 04, 2004, 06:34:39 PM »

WHAT ABOUT PICTURES LIKE THIS THEN .....
more at http://www.tonka-toy.co.uk

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Offline tonka-toy

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #12 on: March 04, 2004, 06:36:45 PM »
lots of jimny pictures here
http://www.jimny-jam.co.uk/

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Offline tonka-toy

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #13 on: March 04, 2004, 09:57:41 PM »

like this

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Offline Ronzuki

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Re: Editorial: Suzuki goes to the mat with C.R.
« Reply #14 on: March 04, 2004, 11:55:20 PM »
Tonka, you're making me ill w/ all those Jimny pics  :'(. I agree, win or lose, I don't think we're gonna see a rebadged Samurai here ever agan. My hope is they bring in something as capable w/ solid axle coil config (possibly a slightly larger Jimny).
I bought one of the first hartops new in 86, NEVER put it on two wheels. The Toy P/U I traded on it, however, seen daylight under the wheels more than once :-/. I still owned the 86 when the CU report came out and saw it instantly kill the Samurai (which I'm sure is what Jeep intended).  There was a dealer in SE PA that sold nothing but Samis. Any given day you could go down there and have your pick of 75 trucks, strippos to loaded. Three months later, that stand alone dealership closed and was combined w/ another owned by the same company You might have 1/2 a dozen strippos to pick from.  I knew then the Sami was dead. I was surprised it took until 95 for it to really end.
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