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Suzuki Dealership Network Shrinks, As Cars Become More Appealing

By Bengt Halvorson
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2 1,254 views August 16, 2010

2010 Suzuki Kizashi

2010 Suzuki Kizashi

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If you're shopping for a sporty, economical compact sedan, we'd recommend that you put the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi on your shopping list. But there's a potential snag: With Suzuki cutting its dealership base, you might find that you no longer have an outlet nearby.

Despite strong, almost unanimously positive reviews of the 2010 Suzuki Kizashi sedan—we call it “sophisticated, well designed, and a lot more fun to drive than most other four-cylinder mid-size sedans”—and some very noteworthy value claims, like the lowest-priced vehicle with all-wheel drive and a nav system (the 2010 Suzuki SX4), the brand hasn't found shoppers rushing into their local Suzuki dealership. Suzuki sales are down so far this year versus 2009.

Some of Suzuki's dealerships have in fact been selling just a few of the brand's vehicles per year.

Although most improved in this year's APEAL study from J.D. Power and Associates—indicating that its products, like the new 2010 Suzuki Kizashi, are appealing to shoppers—the brand ranked a distant last place in this year's Customer Service Index (CSI) study.

According to Automotive News, Suzuki offered buyout offers to 150 of its dealerships, through a program that ended in July, and about 50 accepted the offer, leaving the brand with about 300 stores remaining across the nation.

Suzuki is hoping that, by weeding out the poor-performers, the rest of the dealerships will have more of a chance of being more profitable, as the brand repositions its marketing for the U.S. and aims for a more upscale customer.
[Automotive News]





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Comments (2)

  1. By Case8 Posted: 8/17/2010 3:23am PDT

    I think this is a very good move on Suzuki's part. It's basically siffting out the not so great dealers and leaving the gems in place.
    I heard that part of this is in preperation for Suzuki to start sharing part of Volkswagens U.S. dealership network.
    The Suzuki Kizashi and the SX4 are excellent cars and when the new Swift arrives in 2011, Suzuki will have a very sold core for its dealers to really start moving up the volume!
     
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  2. By  nahiaali33 Posted: 8/25/2010 2:52am PDT

    This is a great post. I’m glad it was bumped. Otherwise I would’ve missed these very useful information.
    regards.
    Suzuki
     
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