In the past few months, 50 Suzuki dealers have accepted buyout offers. This is part of the plan to cut the worst performing stores of this brand launched in March. Suzuki has now 300 dealerships, compared to 354 in March. Buyout offers were made to 150 dealers and the program ended in July. Dealers that have accepted the offer were only selling two cars per month. Through this measure it is parked that both the profitability for dealers and for the company will be better.
This is rented to offer a better chance to retail outlets better profits due to increased sales per store. Sales in US dropped over the last four years from 100,000 in 2006 to less than 40,000 in 2009 and continue to drop in 2010.
In southernwestern Ohio, the brand has only three stores for Cincinnati and Dayton. The Suzuki store in Dayton, Ohio acquired the franchise in 2007, and invested $ 250,000 in improvements but only sold four or five new Suzukis a month. The Suzuki store will be used as a certified used cars dealership.
The problems with Suzuki probably are related to lack of marketing and tough competition in US A new ad campaign was launched last month. The new Kizashi sedan and the seven year powertrain are featured in the ads which will run through August.
The new Kizashi sedan is intended to change the public image of Suzuki. Although it is rather small in size, it has a sporty, muscular look. Its power comes from a 2.4L four-cylinder developing 185 horsepower together with the six-speed manual transmission. Slightly higher fuel economy is offered with the new Kizashi. The sports tuned suspension and the super-stiff chassis make Kizashi the most athletic car in its class. The suspension setup was completely tailor to the Kizashi.
Suzuki Kizashi is impressive in its athletic abilities, but Bonneville Kizashi goes farther with its power. Teaming with Advanced Product Engineering, Suzuki used a pre-production prototype but changed the sedan's interior. The Kizashi engine was disassembled and rebuilt and the new features include a flowed and ported cylinder head, a long tube header and forged pistons and rods. A turbocharger was added to supply 20 pounds of boost. The result was an engine that could develop 900 horsepower, but which was listed initially at 500 wheel horsepower. Bonneville Kizashi will be launched in August and it is expected to cross the 200 mph mark.
The Japanese car maker has announced a safety recall for the mid-size sports sedan. Kizashi models manufactured between October 2009 and May 2010 were recalted due to a hinged door of the center lower box which does not comply with federal regulations. In a crash, the door might open, thus increasing the risk of injury. There have been no injuries due to this defect and Suzuki dealers can fix the problem by replacing the area of the dash. The recall started in July and covered more than 5,000 models.
