Cerritos, California-based Isuzu Motors America (IMA) will stop selling new passenger vehicles in North America from 31 January 2009, the company said last night.
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“The discontinuation of passenger vehicles results from the prospective cessation of production by General Motors Corporation of the Ascender sport utility vehicle and the i-290 and i-370 pickup trucks,” the company said in a statement.
Isuzu stopped selling passenger cars in the US in 1993 but did well earlier with one of the industry’s first mid-sized SUVs, the Trooper, from the early 1980s until 1996.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Trooper sales plunged that year when Consumer Reports said the model was dangerous and prone to tipping.
IMA said Consumer Reports rigged testing on the Trooper, falsified documents and used “driving stunts” to make it appear the vehicle was vulnerable to a rollover, but the damage was done. Consumer Reports stood by its testing, and Isuzu said it lost $US244m in sales and damage to its reputation, the news agency added.
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By GlobalData“It has always been our intention to remain in the US market,” IMA president and COO Terry Maloney said. “However, we were unable to secure any commercially viable replacements for these vehicles.”
General Motors currently builds the Ascender and the two pickup truck models for Isuzu – they are rebadged versions of Chevolet’s TrailBlazer SUV and Colorado light pickup truck.
IMA’s parent company has also in the past sold such ‘badge-engineered’ models in Japan – for a time it sold re-branded versions of Subaru’s Legacy, Honda’s Accord (axed 2002) and Domani (axed 2000) under so-called ‘OEM’ deals. Earlier, Isuzu’s 1980s variant of GM’s T- and J-car ‘world car’ model lines, the Gemini and Aska, were also sold as Holden models in some markets.
IAM said it would continue to support US customers and dealers “for years to come”, honouring all product warranties and roadside assistance programmes, and would also keep its owner-relations call centre.
“In addition, to assure long-term service to its customers, [we] will be offering all current, US… vehicle dealers the opportunity to continue on as service dealerships,” the statement said.
“Let me make it crystal clear,” Maloney said. “Isuzu will discontinue the sales of vehicles only. Our parts and service operation will remain fully functional. We expect the vast majority of our dealers will continue as service-only dealers.”
Citing Autodata Corp, the Associated Press noted that Isuzu had sold only 7,098 vehicles in the US in 2007, down nearly 18% from the previous year.
Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for consulting firm IRN, told the news agency Isuzu and other small Japanese automakers were hurt badly by the rise of Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia, which took much of their sales of small sport utility vehicles and cars. Recently, Isuzu relied on GM products in slow-selling segments, leading to its demise in the US, Merkle added.
A GM spokesman would not comment to AP last night on Isuzu and said the company has not made an announcement on whether it would stop producing its vehicles – the Ascender is made in Moraine, Ohio and the pickups in Shreveport, Louisiana.
A Detroit area Isuzu, Suzuki and GM dealer executive told AP he was “blindsided” by the news, adding that Isuzu vehicles have always been reliable and have a cult-like following among some owners.
He told the news agency Isuzu was at its best when it focused on innovative, high-volume products like the Trooper, which was one of the first midsize SUVs on the market in the early 1980s, but was hurt by the Consumer Reports controversy, and also when it stopped distributing cars in the US in 1993 and became fully truck-based.
Isuzu finally stopped selling cars in Japan in 2002. Decades ago, it had enjoyed some export success with a rear-drive small car called the Bellett and also made a well-received model called the Florian coupe. Its last in-house-designed model (called the Gemini in Japan and sold under a variety of names in North America) was sold from 1990 to 1994.
