Suzuki Canada Follows American Suzuki Automotive Shut Down

In spite of protests that Suzuki Canada was going to remain in the automotive industry after their US counterpart American Suzuki restructured to focus on motorcycles and ATVs, I had suspicions that the Canadian branch would soon follow suit. I was unfortunately right.

Suzuki Canada has now officially announced the end of their auto division. The will be discontinuing auto sales after their 2014 model to refocus, like the US, on motorcycles, ATVs, and their marine branches. This could give dealerships anywhere from 12 months to the end of 2014 to either shut down or sell Suzuki’s other products.

While Suzuki Canada sold over 13,000 cars just 5 years ago, they sold only 5,500 last year, and American Suzuki ended last year with 25,350 cars sold – a definite year-over-year decline for both.

Suzuki made this statement a few months ago in response to concerns that Suzuki Canada would follow American Suzuki’s lead: “Suzuki Canada Inc. is a completely separate entity than American Suzuki Motor Corporation. We are completely independent of one another, and you will not see a rollback in dealerships for Canada.”

This latest quote shows Suzuki Canada’s reasoning behind their decision to in fact shut down their auto division: “[We have] been monitoring market conditions carefully and, after reviewing the long-term viability of automotive production for Canada, [we] concluded that it was no longer feasible to produce automobiles for distribution and sale in the Canadian market.”

Suzuki is by no means the only automotive manufacturer having troubles in this economy, but they seem to be struggling especially hard as Suzuki Motor Spain also closed its motorcycle plant in Spain as of March 2013. Suzuki sold more than 10,000 motorcycles and marine vehicles in Canada last year, but this development in Spain signal the imminent end of Suzuki motorcycles and Suzuki as a whole? Only time will tell.

-Dave

A car for every lifestyle

As we go through different stages in our lives our car needs change. In my early twenties my needs were very simple. It was me, myself and I living a lifestyle that allowed, even encouraged, driving two door coupes. I worked my way through a number of coupes, such as an 88 Shelby Daytona, 91 Honda Civic SI Hatchback, 89 Toyota Celica GT, and 2006 Honda Civic SI to name a few. My philosophy was: I sit in the front, so what do I care about how much room is in the back seat? I will never be sitting there.

Now, in my early thirties, thoughts of family are on my brain, and again I find myself reassessing my car needs. I am still driving coupes, alternating between a 2009 Honda Civic SI and a 2004 Mazda RX8, although technically my RX8 is considered a four door, but I am starting to fear the impending change. In a desperate attempt to hold on to my youth I try to convince myself that I can make the coupe work with a family. This dream was recently shattered when I had to take my nephew, with car seat, out for the day. After this trip, I realized making it work was just a dream and once the family comes, I will not only be adding a couple of little ones, I will also be adding two extra car doors.

Car companies realize that people’s needs change early on, thus the invention of offering different models by the same manufacturer. The core idea is that within the same brand, a buyer is able to move up to different models depending on needs.

Buyers must also realize, as I have done, albeit reluctantly, that your vehicle needs change over time and these evolving needs need to be taken into consideration before making any purchases.

Based on my calculations, it will be 20+ years before it will be practical for me to own another coupe, but I am a car guy and often not very practical.