الشبابي
12-05-2004, 05:31 AM
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
النص :
LOS ANGELES -- Isuzu may be on its last legs in the United States. Sales are plummeting, dealers are losing their best-selling models, and a new SUV they have been promised might never arrive.
Massive incentives slapped on Isuzu's U.S. models last month have the look of a going-out-of-business sale.
If the SUV expected in the fall of 2006 is a no-show, analysts say Isuzu has little reason to stay in business in the United States. But when Isuzu Dealer Council members went to Japan in January to see the vehicle, some were sorely disappointed.
The dealer council was invited by Isuzu Motors Ltd. to discuss future product plans, particularly the SUV that would be produced at an Isuzu plant in Thailand. But Isuzu dealer and council member Bob Scena says the trip to Japan was a waste of time.
"They got us all the way over there to show us nothing," says Scena, owner of Showcase Isuzu in Bourne, Mass. "There didn't seem to be any urgency. Everything about the new vehicle was 'subject to, subject to ... just a lot of subject-tos.'
"There is not a lot of hope for Isuzu right now," he says "The next product is not due until the 2007 model year, and even that's not etched in stone."
Terry Maloney, president of Isuzu Motors America, faces a dealer body that suffered the worst sales slide of all U.S. auto brands in 2003. The dealers will lose their best-selling Rodeo SUV and its Axiom derivative. Production of both models at the Subaru of Indiana plant in Lafayette, Ind. will end in July. That leaves just the five- and seven-seat Ascender models, which are rebadged versions of GM's mid-sized Chevrolet TrailBlazer.
And Maloney says there are no new vehicles in sight aside from the SUV. The company has no plans for a pickup, sport wagon or further shared platforms with GM, he says.
Maloney told dealers in February at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention that he was optimistic they will get the SUV for the 2007 model year. The seven-seat vehicle would be positioned between the two Ascender models.
Now, Maloney is on the road explaining to dealers the obstacles that must be overcome to get the SUV.
Chip Letzgus, executive manager for corporate communications and training for the U.S. unit, believes the vehicle will come but admits there are hurdles.
Letzgus says a series of tests must to be done to ensure the SUV meets U.S. safety and emission standards. Also, a budget has not been approved for either in-house or supplier tooling, he says.
"The initial business case has been developed, and the program plan has been developed, but we do not have approval for tooling investment," he says.
Cost is a factor. Letzgus says the company is discontinuing the best-selling Rodeo because it would be too expensive to re-engineer it to meet new U.S. safety guidelines.
"We didn't think we could get enough volume to justify the cost," for the Rodeo, he says. "But it is 100 percent our intention to bring the (SUV) to this market."
Still, a former American Isuzu executive who worked for the company in the 1990s says dealers should not count on the vehicle.
"The Thai-built SUV they're talking about now is just a siren song to keep the dealers hanging on," says the former executive, who asked not to be named. "They've been talking about a Thai-built SUV for 15 years. That truck's not coming."
Tadashi Ioka, an Isuzu Motors Ltd. spokesman in Japan, says the company must decide if the vehicle can be profitable in the United States.
"We're pursuing the plan to put an SUV on the U.S. market," Ioka says. But there are "five steps" to reaching a final decision, and the company has only gone through the first one, he says.
Dealers say they are confident the SUV will be a hit if the price is right.
"If they can bring that in at a price point we're hoping for - something in the low $20,000 range - I think we can sell that vehicle in volume," says Scott Lasher, chairman of the Isuzu Dealer Council and owner of Lasher Isuzu in Sacramento, Calif.
Lasher says he sold only 350 Isuzu models in 2003, down from 670 in 2002. But he says his Isuzu store is still profitable.
"I have a lot of customers who need service and parts," he says. "I can stay in the game; I am making money with Isuzu."
Isuzu sold 30,328 vehicles in the United States last year, a 42.8 percent decline from 2002. Sales were off 11.8 percent through the first quarter of this year.
As recently as 1999, Isuzu was selling more than 100,000 vehicles in the United States. At the time, Isuzu was riding high on the SUV craze. Its Rodeo and Trooper SUVs lured American customers into showrooms, providing most of Isuzu's global profits.
Seemingly overnight, U.S. customers turned away from Isuzu's truck-based SUVs in favor of more comfortable and stylish car-based crossovers.
"Our SUVs have been stale," admits Isuzu President Yoshinori Ida.
Maloney says the American unit was profitable through the first 11 months of 2003. He believes the importer can be profitable selling under 40,000 units.
"Our breakeven point is not that high," he says.
But of the 7,570 units the company sold through March, 5,224 were Rodeos - a vehicle that is being phased out. And the company is offering huge incentives to move its 2004 models. The $5,000 off a 2004 Rodeo comes on a vehicle with a base price of less than $21,000.
According to Automotive Lease Guide in Santa Barbara, Calif., a 2004 Isuzu will be worth only 33 percent of its value three years from now, a percentage higher only than Buick, Kia, Dodge and Oldsmobile.
The company has taken steps to get smaller. Isuzu Motors America has reduced its U.S. staff to about 150, down from 300. It has dumped its captive finance company; reduced fleet sales to 5 percent of total sales, down from 30 percent; and it will reduce its dealer body to about 250 stores, down from 400.
"When Nissan was down, you still could see new product in the pipeline," says Michael Robinet, vice president of global forecast services at CSM Worldwide in Farmington Hills, Mich. "What product does Isuzu have coming that will draw people from other established brands?"
Jesse Toprak, director of pricing and market analysis at Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, Calif., adds: "Rebadged GMs are not a good turnaround plan. They need their own unique products."
But Isuzu's last new product - the Axiom, launched in April 2001 - has sold far below projections.
"Isuzu was successful with SUVs that were reliable, large and offered good space, " says former head of GM Asia Pacific operations Fritz Henderson, now head of General Motors Europe. "They were good products. But when you compare those products in 1996 or 1997 vs. in 2002, the competitive market has changed dramatically. There are many more entries going after that market. Isuzu lost their role."
طبعا مفاد كل اللي فوق ان الايسوزو كانت تبيع سيارات بنسب حلوة وخصوصا الاس يو في بس الان كل الوكلاء بدأو يسجلون خساير في بيع سيارات ايسوزو حتى ان البيك اب الجديد ممكن ماينزل عندهم ، وممكن مبيعاتهم تقتصر على اسيا والدول الاخرى ....
حتى ان مبيعاتهم تأخرت نوعا ما في اوروبا ...
اخوكم الشبابي
النص :
LOS ANGELES -- Isuzu may be on its last legs in the United States. Sales are plummeting, dealers are losing their best-selling models, and a new SUV they have been promised might never arrive.
Massive incentives slapped on Isuzu's U.S. models last month have the look of a going-out-of-business sale.
If the SUV expected in the fall of 2006 is a no-show, analysts say Isuzu has little reason to stay in business in the United States. But when Isuzu Dealer Council members went to Japan in January to see the vehicle, some were sorely disappointed.
The dealer council was invited by Isuzu Motors Ltd. to discuss future product plans, particularly the SUV that would be produced at an Isuzu plant in Thailand. But Isuzu dealer and council member Bob Scena says the trip to Japan was a waste of time.
"They got us all the way over there to show us nothing," says Scena, owner of Showcase Isuzu in Bourne, Mass. "There didn't seem to be any urgency. Everything about the new vehicle was 'subject to, subject to ... just a lot of subject-tos.'
"There is not a lot of hope for Isuzu right now," he says "The next product is not due until the 2007 model year, and even that's not etched in stone."
Terry Maloney, president of Isuzu Motors America, faces a dealer body that suffered the worst sales slide of all U.S. auto brands in 2003. The dealers will lose their best-selling Rodeo SUV and its Axiom derivative. Production of both models at the Subaru of Indiana plant in Lafayette, Ind. will end in July. That leaves just the five- and seven-seat Ascender models, which are rebadged versions of GM's mid-sized Chevrolet TrailBlazer.
And Maloney says there are no new vehicles in sight aside from the SUV. The company has no plans for a pickup, sport wagon or further shared platforms with GM, he says.
Maloney told dealers in February at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention that he was optimistic they will get the SUV for the 2007 model year. The seven-seat vehicle would be positioned between the two Ascender models.
Now, Maloney is on the road explaining to dealers the obstacles that must be overcome to get the SUV.
Chip Letzgus, executive manager for corporate communications and training for the U.S. unit, believes the vehicle will come but admits there are hurdles.
Letzgus says a series of tests must to be done to ensure the SUV meets U.S. safety and emission standards. Also, a budget has not been approved for either in-house or supplier tooling, he says.
"The initial business case has been developed, and the program plan has been developed, but we do not have approval for tooling investment," he says.
Cost is a factor. Letzgus says the company is discontinuing the best-selling Rodeo because it would be too expensive to re-engineer it to meet new U.S. safety guidelines.
"We didn't think we could get enough volume to justify the cost," for the Rodeo, he says. "But it is 100 percent our intention to bring the (SUV) to this market."
Still, a former American Isuzu executive who worked for the company in the 1990s says dealers should not count on the vehicle.
"The Thai-built SUV they're talking about now is just a siren song to keep the dealers hanging on," says the former executive, who asked not to be named. "They've been talking about a Thai-built SUV for 15 years. That truck's not coming."
Tadashi Ioka, an Isuzu Motors Ltd. spokesman in Japan, says the company must decide if the vehicle can be profitable in the United States.
"We're pursuing the plan to put an SUV on the U.S. market," Ioka says. But there are "five steps" to reaching a final decision, and the company has only gone through the first one, he says.
Dealers say they are confident the SUV will be a hit if the price is right.
"If they can bring that in at a price point we're hoping for - something in the low $20,000 range - I think we can sell that vehicle in volume," says Scott Lasher, chairman of the Isuzu Dealer Council and owner of Lasher Isuzu in Sacramento, Calif.
Lasher says he sold only 350 Isuzu models in 2003, down from 670 in 2002. But he says his Isuzu store is still profitable.
"I have a lot of customers who need service and parts," he says. "I can stay in the game; I am making money with Isuzu."
Isuzu sold 30,328 vehicles in the United States last year, a 42.8 percent decline from 2002. Sales were off 11.8 percent through the first quarter of this year.
As recently as 1999, Isuzu was selling more than 100,000 vehicles in the United States. At the time, Isuzu was riding high on the SUV craze. Its Rodeo and Trooper SUVs lured American customers into showrooms, providing most of Isuzu's global profits.
Seemingly overnight, U.S. customers turned away from Isuzu's truck-based SUVs in favor of more comfortable and stylish car-based crossovers.
"Our SUVs have been stale," admits Isuzu President Yoshinori Ida.
Maloney says the American unit was profitable through the first 11 months of 2003. He believes the importer can be profitable selling under 40,000 units.
"Our breakeven point is not that high," he says.
But of the 7,570 units the company sold through March, 5,224 were Rodeos - a vehicle that is being phased out. And the company is offering huge incentives to move its 2004 models. The $5,000 off a 2004 Rodeo comes on a vehicle with a base price of less than $21,000.
According to Automotive Lease Guide in Santa Barbara, Calif., a 2004 Isuzu will be worth only 33 percent of its value three years from now, a percentage higher only than Buick, Kia, Dodge and Oldsmobile.
The company has taken steps to get smaller. Isuzu Motors America has reduced its U.S. staff to about 150, down from 300. It has dumped its captive finance company; reduced fleet sales to 5 percent of total sales, down from 30 percent; and it will reduce its dealer body to about 250 stores, down from 400.
"When Nissan was down, you still could see new product in the pipeline," says Michael Robinet, vice president of global forecast services at CSM Worldwide in Farmington Hills, Mich. "What product does Isuzu have coming that will draw people from other established brands?"
Jesse Toprak, director of pricing and market analysis at Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, Calif., adds: "Rebadged GMs are not a good turnaround plan. They need their own unique products."
But Isuzu's last new product - the Axiom, launched in April 2001 - has sold far below projections.
"Isuzu was successful with SUVs that were reliable, large and offered good space, " says former head of GM Asia Pacific operations Fritz Henderson, now head of General Motors Europe. "They were good products. But when you compare those products in 1996 or 1997 vs. in 2002, the competitive market has changed dramatically. There are many more entries going after that market. Isuzu lost their role."
طبعا مفاد كل اللي فوق ان الايسوزو كانت تبيع سيارات بنسب حلوة وخصوصا الاس يو في بس الان كل الوكلاء بدأو يسجلون خساير في بيع سيارات ايسوزو حتى ان البيك اب الجديد ممكن ماينزل عندهم ، وممكن مبيعاتهم تقتصر على اسيا والدول الاخرى ....
حتى ان مبيعاتهم تأخرت نوعا ما في اوروبا ...
اخوكم الشبابي