Ummm, can we say "Katana"?
Sorry, I get all fidigty when ASMC announces new vehicles and I watch them move farther and farther away from their roots. If they want to be a Honda or Toyota, they can forget it. No one will every take them that way.
It's all about name. Check the Kelly Blue Book or the NADA for used auto prices. The Suzuki GV and the Chevy Tracker are nearly identical, with the Gv having a larger motor and more details. But it doesn't matter when you compare same year model book prices.
The Chevy, although less equipped, maintains a higher resale value than the Suzuki! It's the name Suzuki that makes the truck worth less.
People who want to buy a Honda or a Toyota or a Subaru will do so, and exclude any other make. Take a look as Mitsubishi. They made the new "Outlander" to compete against the Subaru "Outback". The cars look a lot alike, particularily from the back. The Mitsu is better equipped and less expensive, but they can't give them away. People wanting a Subaru BUY Subarus.
Since the 70's gas crisis, I know entire families that have grown to be die-hard Toyota , Datsun/Nissan, and Honda families. Kids grow up and buy Toyota because there mom and dad only drove Toyotas. Getting those buyers to stray is like breaking up Ford families years ago. It's a hard sell.
Suzuki had a nitch market that made a mark for them, selling SUVs, little ones at that. That nitch saw them sell the highest volume sales of a single model in month to month sales ever. And that was with less dealerships than they have today. ASMC has since never came close to the high water mark again. Yeah, they brag about having the highest monthly sales #s ever, but it takes several models to reach the sales of just the Samurai.
It's sad, Eric. You know I'm a fervernt Suzuki lover. I always have been, and prolly always will be. But in the same fashion as I am an air-cooled VW lover. I will love what once was, and not what is now.
But I need to buy a new SUV soley as a company car. Yeah, I thought about an XL7, but they are adding a push button T-case. A new design? Hells no. Much like the abortion they created in the "Sh!t-on-the-Fly" front diff, they are taking the existing Kick/GV/XL7 t-case and adding a contraption to it to electrically shift it! Seems like the same half-a$$ed engineering they are becoming familiar with.
But me? I think I will return to VW. With the Toureg having a rear locker as well as a center diff lock, 11.8" of ground clearence (2.5" more than a H2), massive tow capacity, and over-all MORE of what I want from an SUV, I don't see ASMC getting anymore repeat biz from me. 3 new Zooks is enuff, thank you.
Damn shame that a German company, known for making quirky passanger cars can out do a Japanese company known for making great little 4x4s in their own game.
Instead of 357, the moto should be K.I.S.S.R. "Keep It Strictly Suzuki, Rick!" Hey Rick, if your PR chronies are reading this, WHERE IS MY KATANA?!?!?! I feel a serious bitch slap coming on. Don't make me come out there.
*sorry for hijacking your post, Eric*
