Car & Driver pays a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the American Suzuki Motor Corp.
http://cardrive.co/6037wDfF
Car & Driver Tribute
That ariticle makes it sound as if Suzuki is dead....what they should really be focusing on is why exactly Suzuki feels the N. American market is a waste of their time and effort. The Indian and Asian markets love Sukuki...why do you suppose that is? It's been obvious to me for many, many years that the vast majority of Americans don't understand what quality and value are....just which models have massive amounts of advertising of massive amounts of techno crap being shoved down their throats. Hopefully they'll return one day as I find NOTHING worth looking at of any quality or value to me. I'm not holding my breath though.
Ron
2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded
)
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top (
sold)
2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded
) 1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top (
sold)-
Speed_Racer
- Posts: 383
- Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2012 7:58 pm
- Location: Salt Lake City
Suzuki had two issues counting against them:
One was they didn't consider how American's think. We equate bigger = better value. Why are midsizers anything but nowadays? Because if Cars A & B both cost $20k, but Car A is longer, wider, and has more legroom than Car B, then it must be the better value. Even if you don't necessarily need the extra size. Consumers saw Car A vs Kizashi. The Kizashi sacrificed overall size for build quality fit/finish, but Americans didn't equate those benefits with value. They said "Oh, Kizashi costs the same as Car A, but it's smaller in size and has less HP. Must be a worse value."
We value quantity over quality, whereas other parts of the world are more moderate. We like to supersize, while their meals are smaller, but they're more delicious and made with better ingredients.
Second, I work in advertising and their advertising/media placement was not well planned. They shouldn't have been going after the TSX/A4 owners and buyers. Those are tarted up Hondas and VWs...people buy them for the brand name on the grille. They aren't going to buy a Suzuki (what would the neighbors think?). They should have gone after the mainstream midsize consumer. Emphasize value (look at everything standard), NHSTA 2014 Top Pick + safety, handling, build quality, warranty. They shouldn't have bought Super Bowl commercials that have ad rates of $3-4 million per 30 seconds. What a waste of funds for anything but big-name branding efforts.
One was they didn't consider how American's think. We equate bigger = better value. Why are midsizers anything but nowadays? Because if Cars A & B both cost $20k, but Car A is longer, wider, and has more legroom than Car B, then it must be the better value. Even if you don't necessarily need the extra size. Consumers saw Car A vs Kizashi. The Kizashi sacrificed overall size for build quality fit/finish, but Americans didn't equate those benefits with value. They said "Oh, Kizashi costs the same as Car A, but it's smaller in size and has less HP. Must be a worse value."
We value quantity over quality, whereas other parts of the world are more moderate. We like to supersize, while their meals are smaller, but they're more delicious and made with better ingredients.
Second, I work in advertising and their advertising/media placement was not well planned. They shouldn't have been going after the TSX/A4 owners and buyers. Those are tarted up Hondas and VWs...people buy them for the brand name on the grille. They aren't going to buy a Suzuki (what would the neighbors think?). They should have gone after the mainstream midsize consumer. Emphasize value (look at everything standard), NHSTA 2014 Top Pick + safety, handling, build quality, warranty. They shouldn't have bought Super Bowl commercials that have ad rates of $3-4 million per 30 seconds. What a waste of funds for anything but big-name branding efforts.
'12 Kizashi,'03 SV650,'04 DL1000