Hate to be the bearer of not great news.
Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 4:14 pm
Listen Guys,
I am as die-hard a fan of our cars as anyone else on here but I am fearing the worst for American Suzuki. My dealer is definitely one of the most successful Suzuki dealers probably on the East Coast and I just got a letter in the mail from the owner saying he was letting go of his Suzuki franchise as of june "in order to expand his vw showroom". Now this is a guy who has been pushing for Suzuki and loves them to pieces since he started selling them like 15 years ago. When I tell you I see Suzukis galore around here from my dealer, I am not kidding. I honestly think they are leaving the U.S., even though this letter said they are not. The letter went on to say that none of the other local Suzuki dealerships or any dealerships for that matter, were willing to buy the leftover inventory or the franchise from them. It also went on to say that they would no longer even be servicing Suzuki cars as of June. The kicker of the letter was that he is offering 2000 dollars above the NADA good condition trade value of any Suzuki plus 1000 dollars below his cost on any new or pre owned audi or vw from his dealership. Because this is such a big deal, they are not even involving their salesman. All transactions for trades and new vehicles are going to be done by their general manager and sales manager. Kind of reminds me of when circuit city was liquidating all their inventory and people were just selling off stuff like crazy in their stores....Between my wife and I and my in-laws, we have bought 7 new suzukis from them in the past 12 years. The closest dealer to my house for warranty work and recalls will now be 1 hour away. This is not the middle of nowhere either. This the new york metro area. I think it's too late for the swift and a redesigned sx4 to save Suzuki in the U.S. I am not a trouble maker at all, in fact, I left Subaru because I love these cars so much, but I wanted to let you guys know whats going on on the east coast which is supposedly Suzuki's strongest market. I am betting that in the coming few weeks, you will see more dealers sending out letters like this. I have family who has owned dealerships, and they have said that something like this is the first in a series of steps for an automaker to pull out of a market. Sorry for the spelling and punctuation btw. iPad keyboards are not the most accurate.
I am as die-hard a fan of our cars as anyone else on here but I am fearing the worst for American Suzuki. My dealer is definitely one of the most successful Suzuki dealers probably on the East Coast and I just got a letter in the mail from the owner saying he was letting go of his Suzuki franchise as of june "in order to expand his vw showroom". Now this is a guy who has been pushing for Suzuki and loves them to pieces since he started selling them like 15 years ago. When I tell you I see Suzukis galore around here from my dealer, I am not kidding. I honestly think they are leaving the U.S., even though this letter said they are not. The letter went on to say that none of the other local Suzuki dealerships or any dealerships for that matter, were willing to buy the leftover inventory or the franchise from them. It also went on to say that they would no longer even be servicing Suzuki cars as of June. The kicker of the letter was that he is offering 2000 dollars above the NADA good condition trade value of any Suzuki plus 1000 dollars below his cost on any new or pre owned audi or vw from his dealership. Because this is such a big deal, they are not even involving their salesman. All transactions for trades and new vehicles are going to be done by their general manager and sales manager. Kind of reminds me of when circuit city was liquidating all their inventory and people were just selling off stuff like crazy in their stores....Between my wife and I and my in-laws, we have bought 7 new suzukis from them in the past 12 years. The closest dealer to my house for warranty work and recalls will now be 1 hour away. This is not the middle of nowhere either. This the new york metro area. I think it's too late for the swift and a redesigned sx4 to save Suzuki in the U.S. I am not a trouble maker at all, in fact, I left Subaru because I love these cars so much, but I wanted to let you guys know whats going on on the east coast which is supposedly Suzuki's strongest market. I am betting that in the coming few weeks, you will see more dealers sending out letters like this. I have family who has owned dealerships, and they have said that something like this is the first in a series of steps for an automaker to pull out of a market. Sorry for the spelling and punctuation btw. iPad keyboards are not the most accurate.