Kizashi Club

Anderson Auto group, headquartered in Nebraska, and which owns Ford, Kia and Suzuki dealerships in St Joseph, MO, has closed their Suzuki dealership. I don't know if this was Anderson's or Suzuki's choice.
Guess I wouldn't blame Suzuki, the Kizashi I bought last month was the only one they ever sold in our town (73,300 population) and if I hadn't read reviews online, I would never have known about this great car.
Anyway, it was sad to see the sign come down today, and it makes me a little uneasy about where to get local warranty service. I might have to go to Kansas City or Omaha.
I sure hope that Suzuki pushed the Kizashi a LOT more this year, I'd hate to own an instant 'classic' if they drop the model line in the US.

If that happened I have a feeling they would would something out with VW to take over for them.

I talked directly to the manager of my dealership in NW Iowa and he assured me that Suzuki was not going away. He explained that Suzuki is fed up with dealerships that carry their brand but don't do anything to sell them, so Suzuki is reformatting how the distribute in the U.S.

Trust me, they wouldn't have invested the money they did into the Kizashi if they didn't intend to keep it going for the long haul. I would think the Kiz will be around for at least 5 years before they throw in the towel. Kia and Hyundai were hardly overnight successes, I believe Suzuki is looking at the dealership restructures as a positive thing for the long term.

Weird that they weren't moving them. The dealership I bought from is the 2nd highest seller of Suzukis in the states. I go there 2 or 3 times a week and they must move a lot of Kizashis becuase they are always getting new cars and the colors and trim levels are always changing. I kinda wanted Black, They got 2 Black ones the day I picked mine up. That's cool though, now the wife can keep the White and I can get a black one...

Suzuki is expecting their dealers to produce for them. Those who "skate" are being closed, and the franchises awarded to others who will promote the brand. Suzuki is spending money in markets where the dealers are growing the brand, and cutting those who are running it as a "red-headed step-child"

Schuzuki wrote:Suzuki is expecting their dealers to produce for them. Those who "skate" are being closed, and the franchises awarded to others who will promote the brand. Suzuki is spending money in markets where the dealers are growing the brand, and cutting those who are running it as a "red-headed step-child"

Why would a dealer not want to promote a car they make their living on? My dealer had two Kizashi's in stock with the same color. They kept one inside the showroom and the other out of sight. I kept telling them to park them by the street so people driving by would see them. When they finally parked them by the street they put up signs in front of them so no one could see them, really infuriating for me. You'd think I had stock in Suzuki .

Here in Los Angeles/Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley, I've been seeing more and more Kizashis on the road (post 1yr from introduction)..considering the limited Suzuki dealers that are few and far between in the SoCal market, I'd say it is a good "omen"...

autopiolet wrote: Why would a dealer not want to promote a car they make their living on? My dealer had two Kizashi's in stock with the same color. They kept one inside the showroom and the other out of sight. I kept telling them to park them by the street so people driving by would see them. When they finally parked them by the street they put up signs in front of them so no one could see them, really infuriating for me. You'd think I had stock in Suzuki .

For some reason there are a lot of dealers who carry Suzuki as a third or fourth line. These may be the ones who are losing their franchises. I, for one can't understand this mentality. Considering the cost of a franchise, why wouldn't you do your best, unless you're simply trying to keep further competition out of the area market.

I know of one that is a stand-alone dealership, whose franchise is on the line. This has a lot to do with local politics; the guy would rather sell used cars and do service, but the city ordinances do not permit used car lots - must have a new car franchise to sell.

In Arizona there are two Suzuki dealers. The dealer on metro Phoenix also sells Subaru's and KIA. He has the stores right next to each other. He is selling a lot of kia's so the Subs and Suks are both laying around. Why even bother!

It's called "Profit margin". They make more money on a Kia. etc. so when sales are slow, sell what you make the most "PROFIT" on.

Jerry 2010 SLS, 1977 Mercedes-Benz 280SL, 1983 BMW 633CSi