Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Labcoatguy said:
Somewhere in Japan, the marketing department of Suzuki is committing seppuku after realizing just how hard they failed in marketing the SX4.
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You beat me to it.
 
The SX4 that I drove had a CVT transmission and a rather cheap interior. Also, at that time the reliability for all of Suzuki was just above Land Rover, which pretty much ruled it out. The SX4 is also primarily a five-door car with a FWD power train. The AWD version is not really a crossover, more of an optional extra for the standard car. The Countryman is purpose-built, the SX4 AWD is closer to other cars that are offered in FWD and AWD.

Mini isn't doing that great on owner satisfaction, but I chalk that up to unrealistic expectation, rather than the car not being good.
 
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Labcoatguy said:
Somewhere in Japan, the marketing department of Suzuki is committing seppuku after realizing just how hard they failed in marketing the SX4.
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Which is a shame because it's such a nice vehicle. Hell, as Blind said, the thing comes with a CVT and I still like it
 
I've been driving my sister's Monaro around town today, I forgot how heavy it feels.
 
Labcoatguy said:
Somewhere in Japan, the marketing department of Suzuki is committing seppuku after realizing just how hard they failed in marketing the SX4.
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AiR said:
The what?
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Exactly, I barely see any marketing for Suzuki. If you went out and asked people about Suzuki, you would end up with more people saying dirt bikes than any thing else.
 
Topgearfanatic said:
Exactly, I barely see any marketing for Suzuki. If you went out and asked people about Suzuki, you would end up with more people saying dirt bikes than any thing else.
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They had the whole "mightier than the Mini thing" with a cape and everything, that was cool :)
 
The Kizashi was the closest thing Suzuki ever had to a proper marketing effort. They sent it out to quite a few big automotive publications, and either Road and Track or Car and Driver (Can't remember which one of them at the moment) Motor Trend (My bad, figured it was one of the other two for some reason) drove one from Tokyo to LA. Then Road and Track also ran one (Admittedly with quite a few modifications) at Bonneville to a new speed record. They also had a bit of a campaign here in Toronto at the CN Tower. A car was placed outside and ads for it were on all the TVs inside. The press conference in New York for the Kizashi Sport received quite a fair bit of coverage too. However, it still wasn't enough, which is a shame because I've heard the Kizashi is quite a good car, albeit lacking some punch.

I see quite a number of the new Grand Vitaras around here though. And my dad's owned three of them consecutively, along with a Swift before that (Which was one of our first cars when we arrived in Canada, he bought it for dirt cheap and did some work on it, served us very well before he decided we needed an SUV for the harsh winters). However, even he's become a little tired of Suzuki lately, and will very likely switch brands for his next car.
 
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Labcoatguy said:
The Outback and even the Forester are quite a bit bigger than the Countryman, so they aren't really part of this comparison.
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The Outback Sport is based on the Impreza. It's called the Impreza XV here. It's to the Impreza what the Outback is to the Legacy.

On the Suzuki thing, they do hardly any marketing here either. In fact, the only Suzuki TV ad I remember is one for the Grand Vitara, and nobody buys the Grand Vitara anymore. I've never seen an ad for the Swift but they're everywhere.

I was about to say Suzukis are very popular here, but that would be incorrect. The Swift is very popular, nobody cares about the rest of the lineup, except maybe for the Alto.
 
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The regular outback, like my mother has, is basically the same size as the forester. If you park them next to each other the only noticeable difference is the forester is more boxy.
 
Evel said:
The Kizashi was the closest thing Suzuki ever had to a proper marketing effort. They sent it out to quite a few big automotive publications, and either Road and Track or Car and Driver (Can't remember which one of them at the moment) Motor Trend (My bad, figured it was one of the other two for some reason) drove one from Tokyo to LA. Then Road and Track also ran one (Admittedly with quite a few modifications) at Bonneville to a new speed record. They also had a bit of a campaign here in Toronto at the CN Tower. A car was placed outside and ads for it were on all the TVs inside. The press conference in New York for the Kizashi Sport received quite a fair bit of coverage too. However, it still wasn't enough, which is a shame because I've heard the Kizashi is quite a good car, albeit lacking some punch.
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I remember hearing about their speedrun. Definitely seems like they tried to market as best they could with limited resources. Too bad nothing came of it. I'd imagine it'd be basically trying to steal the same Camcord sales than the Legacy is going after. Its a hard sale because even if it has a better sorted chassis and available AWD, its (way) down on power like you say. I wonder how long they'll keep selling them....
 
duckedtapedemon said:
I remember hearing about their speedrun. Definitely seems like they tried to market as best they could with limited resources. Too bad nothing came of it. I'd imagine it'd be basically trying to steal the same Camcord sales than the Legacy is going after. Its a hard sale because even if it has a better sorted chassis and available AWD, its (way) down on power like you say. I wonder how long they'll keep selling them....
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If only their new buddies at VW would do what GM did and fork over a more powerful engine. VR6 Kizashi anyone?
 
Evel said:
Fair enough, VR6 was just the first thing to spring to mind :p
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:dunno: I blame the car market over there, after all your basic Golf Variant petrol engine still is a silly 2.5l with 170hp, you can't get lovely things such as the more torquey and frugal 1.8TSI over there.
 
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