Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Apparently the cheapest new car in Australia is the Chinese-made Geely MK, yours for the low low price of AU$11990. It supplanted the Proton S16, evidently.

Let me guess - about half of that price is tax and duties, isn't it?
 
Well its not likely to be half made up of raw materials and labour, is it? :p

And actually, that Geely is not sold here yet AFAIK. The cheapest car is the Suzuki Alto for $11,790. Even cheaper than the cheapest Chinese car, the Chery J1, for $11,990.
 
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Well its not likely to be half made up of raw materials and labour, is it? :p

True, and it's not like they spent any money on R&D or safety equipment... or emissions controls... or, well, anything else. :p

If that doesn't illustrate how screwed the automotive tax and customs issues are in Australia, I don't know what will. :p
 
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Around here the two cheapest are Dacia and Fiat: 7k? will get you a Sandero, 7.5k? will get you a Panda.

Sandero or Panda...Sandero or Panda.....torn....I love the Sandero's looks but I'd probably save up just enough to get the Panda.

Well its not likely to be half made up of raw materials and labour, is it? :p

And actually, that Geely is not sold here. The cheapest car is the Suzuki Alto for $11,790. Even cheaper than the cheapest Chinese car, the Chery J1, for $11,990.

Why on earth would you get the Chery then.....Chery in AU...you're doin' it wrong. xD

Actually...Alto starts at 12,490...soooo nvm lol
 
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Why on earth would you get the Chery then.....Chery in AU...you're doin' it wrong. xD

No idea, really. The Chery is not better equipped or more powerful or anything, certainly not enough to justify the lack of quality, safety, longevity and resale value that you well get when you buy one.
 
With the Panda you'd get A/C and power steering...

I need both of those so Panda it is. :)

Random thought: i went onto suzuki's us site out of curiosity because i was looking at the alto and found out that you can't get the 2011 Grand Vitara with a V6 anymore. shame as 166 horsepower seems to be dog slow sounding for a pretty heavy (integrated ladder frame, rear drive w/ optional 4wd) small SUV. The 3.2 V6 had 230 hp, if anyone cares. I'm shocked it's even still around tbh, but glad as I've always thought it to be very handsome, and the interior's not bad either.
 
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Judging by sales, Suzuki may very well be the next 'lucky' contestant on the "Who's Getting Kicked Out Of The US Automobile Market?" game show. The last 'lucky' winner was Isuzu.
 
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A friend had a Isuzu Gemini GTi. Brittle car but went like stink when it worked properly. The only cars Isuzu still sell around here are pickup trucks.
 
Judging by sales, Suzuki may very well be the next 'lucky' contestant on the "Who's Getting Kicked Out Of The US Automobile Market?" game show. The last 'lucky' winner was Isuzu.
Are the Americans mad? I ad the pleasure to drive a Suzuki SX4 with AWD and it was a most excellent drive,relatively whee while still being comfortable on shitty tegucigalpa streets

A friend had a Isuzu Gemini GTi. Brittle car but went like stink when it worked properly. The only cars Isuzu still sell around here are pickup trucks.

Here it handles pickups and comercial vehicles, buses,light trucks and the like. Shame really, I liked the Axiom
 
Are the Americans mad? I ad the pleasure to drive a Suzuki SX4 with AWD and it was a most excellent drive,relatively whee while still being comfortable on shitty tegucigalpa streets

In this case, Suzuki would get kicked out for a very spotty dealership network and the worst marketing department of any US marque. As in, they don't advertise their cars significantly and they probably have the lowest mindshare of any of the remaining Japanese brands in the US as a direct result.

It didn't help that their US lineup was crap for a number of years and they let Kia eat their lunch in the bargain price segment.

Put it to you this way. You have to really work at failing to not sell (at least some) compact pickup trucks in the US. Suzuki got Nissan to make them some Frontiers with Suzuki badges as the "Suzuki Equator". It's been such a spectacular success that they've resorted to sending out letters and fliers to owners of Suzuki motorcycles to inform them of this great new Suzuki motorcycle accessory that can transport their broken street bikes to the shop or their dirt bikes to an Off-Highway Vehicle recreation area.

Here in truck-mad North Texas, where we'll try anything new so long as it has a pickup bed in the back, in the three years it's been out I've seen one in the wild. Just the one.

It might have helped if Suzuki's marketing department had told the general public it existed.
 
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similarly, i've only ever seen two kizashis in the wild, and both times i couldn't tell what it was at first.
 
Here in truck-mad North Texas, where we'll try anything new so long as it has a pickup bed in the back, in the three years it's been out I've seen one in the wild. Just the one.

It might have helped if Suzuki's marketing department had told the general public it existed.

similarly, i've only ever seen two kizashis in the wild, and both times i couldn't tell what it was at first.


Yeah, Suzuki's marketing department is horrible...they had a thing going for a bit tying the car brand with their other products (IIRC it was the last gen XL-7 ad campaign) but then biffed it for some reason and basically stopped advertising. The last Suzuki ad I saw was a regional super bowl ad (WTF??? Regional??.....whyyyy...pointless.) for Kizashi...that turned out to be a rehashed version of an existing ad they had for a while now. Totally underwhelming.

A shame because the lineup they have now is quite good....Kizashi's interior is what the Jetta's could have been if VW hadn't gone to cost cutting hell. SX4, while not having the best MPG, is very engaging to drive, and the crossover appeals to me. The amount of value they pack into each car is staggering as well.

I've seen more of the Daewoo "badged as Suzuki" cars (Verona, Reno, Forenza) than actual Suzukis. There's at least 4 Verona's floating around my college campus. I remember reading in C/D how the Verona's inline 6 was co-developed with Porsche....then I read the horsepower and was like ...wut??? :lol:

Road test for anyone who's curious: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/04q1/suzuki_verona_ex-road_test

Contrast that to seeing abut 2 or 3 Grand Vitara's on campus and those are the first gen models.
 
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I'm thinking about getting a previous generation Mazda6 S wagon, with the 3 liter V6, when my office closes and I get my separation benefits.

Problem is actually finding one. A nationwide search on Ebay turned up exactly one, in Brooklyn.
 
Yeah, Suzuki's marketing department is horrible...they had a thing going for a bit tying the car brand with their other products (IIRC it was the last gen XL-7 ad campaign) but then biffed it for some reason and basically stopped advertising. The last Suzuki ad I saw was a regional super bowl ad (WTF??? Regional??.....whyyyy...pointless.) for Kizashi...that turned out to be a rehashed version of an existing ad they had for a while now. Totally underwhelming.

A shame because the lineup they have now is quite good....Kizashi's interior is what the Jetta's could have been if VW hadn't gone to cost cutting hell. SX4, while not having the best MPG, is very engaging to drive, and the crossover appeals to me. The amount of value they pack into each car is staggering as well.

I've seen more of the Daewoo "badged as Suzuki" cars (Verona, Reno, Forenza) than actual Suzukis. There's at least 4 Verona's floating around my college campus. I remember reading in C/D how the Verona's inline 6 was co-developed with Porsche....then I read the horsepower and was like ...wut??? :lol:

Road test for anyone who's curious: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/04q1/suzuki_verona_ex-road_test

Contrast that to seeing abut 2 or 3 Grand Vitara's on campus and those are the first gen models.

Yeah, I didn't say anything about the product being an issue because as far as I can tell there isn't actually anything wrong with it. It's not embarrassingly bad, it doesn't seem to be a ripoff and the Suzukis I see seem to be reasonably durable. I wouldn't ever buy one, but that's more due to the spotty dealer network and the fact that they don't make anything in a class I'd be interested in than the quality of the cars.

How bad is their marketing department? Most people see a Suzuki sign off the highway and think it's a motorcycle dealership with a bunch of customer cars parked out front. No kidding. The public in general doesn't even know that Suzuki still makes cars.

If Suzuki gets kicked out of the market here, it won't be because of the product. It will be due to whatever idiots are managing their US dealer network and their marketing department, pure and simple. Unless they make some changes and soon, that day isn't far off.
 
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I like the looks of the Kizashi; it has a pleasingly aggressive, wheels-at-the-corners-of-the car stance. But the 185hp 4 cylinder engine is only adequate, and the lack of a V6 option keeps it off my shopping list. And, I expect, more than few others as well. If they've even heard of the car in the first place.
 
You know what other pickup I don't think sells that many units in america?

http://img163.imageshack.**/img163/6044/2006mitsubishiraiderext.jpg
 
They stopped selling those 2 years ago - not that anyone (Except you maybe, gaasc) noticed.
 
They stopped selling those 2 years ago - not that anyone (Except you maybe, gaasc) noticed.

They did!?, I could swear I saw them at mitsu's build a car website not that long ago.It's a shame you don't get the current L-200, it's a damn fine pickup, even if the design is a little bit weird.

http://img191.imageshack.**/img191/1481/mitsubishil200trojan201.jpg
 
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