New 4-page insert ad in this month's Car & Driver

[tigerbangs54]

I think that many of us have bemoaned Suzuki's lack of marketing acumen when promoting their automotive products. This month, Suzuki put the best ad I have seen them produce in the centerfold of Car & Driver. For the first time, they talk about Suzuki as a company, the breadth of their product line, and discussed how their engineering acumen in motorcycles and marine engines has helped them develop their cars. It's worth picking up a copy of the magazine just to see this ad. Suzuki has finally realized that they are NOT on people's radar screen, and this is an attempt to raise their profile...

[AlexRuiz]

It also appeared on road and track. Personally, I don't think the marketing strategy makes sense. While the grand vitara, equator and SX4 are decent cars, the one that truly appeals to enthusiasts is the Kizashi. The Kizashi is a car of its own, and should be marketed as such. People reading automotive magazines are enthusiasts or wannabes at least.

I could bet money that the people marketing the Kizashi have not even driven one. Why market the Kizashi against the Camry/Altima crowd, when the Kizashi is smaller? It has to be marketed against the Mazda 3, Golf GTI, Volvo S40 or any other compact sport sedan in the ~$20k range. Something as simple as a tagline "6sp MT with performance tires, sunroof and premium audio? Yes, standard in the Suzuki Kizashi sport GTS... " I also know that having virtually no MT cars in dealers hurts the chances with crowd looking for a sports sedan. It is not that if I didn't find a MT in my closest dealership, I'll go to another one 10 miles down the road...



Alex