The US Suzuki distributor has just filed for bankruptcy, no more Suzuki car sales here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-suzuki-distributor-files-for-chapter-11-2012-11-05
At least they’ll keep selling their motorcycles (and ATVs). I learned on a '67 Suzuki 250.
My guess is that Mitsubishi might not be far behind.
I have had several Suzuki products over the years. ALL have been reasonable products, but parts and service seemed lacking. It seems that, once you buy on, your on your own. They were the only manufacturer of any product that I have called directly that really weren’t too concerned about me as a customer. They fail for a reason.
@dagosa: this just happened this afternoon:
“Parts department, may I help you?”
“Hi, this is me at XYZ. I need an ECM for a 2003 Grand Vitara 2.5 automatic.”
“Hahahaha. Good luck with that!”
Even the parts department at the dealers say their coverage is crab.
That sounds like the Fiat distributor back in the 80s when a multi-line dealer I worked for decided to take on a Fiat franchise.
We could not even get so much as an air or oil filter from them, franchised dealer or not, and all warranty claims were routinely kicked back with none of them being paid.
Eventually a phone call to corporate Fiat led to a “No longer in service” phone number. 
@ ok4450 wow, I didn’t know that sort of thing could happen.
question, what is the average mark-up percentage on parts?
Of All The Motorcycles I’ve Lived Through I Had One Suzuki 2 Stroker. I Liked It Except Where Some Jack-Axx Engineer/Designer Routed The Cylinder Oil Line (oil-injection system). Hint: Never Run A Critical Line Next To A Drive Chain.
I won’t miss their cars, though. I think I’ve ever only seen 1 or 2 on the road and I don’t think there’s a dealer within _________ (choose a number) hundred miles of here. I have no idea.
Also, Ok4450’s anecdote reminds me of trying to get parts for a Ducati in the U.S. in the 1960s. What a nightmare.
CSA
The local Suzuki dealer in a metropolitan area of roughly half a million, was the top selling dealer in all of the USA. Their family owns several new car franchises, including Toyota, Jeep, Scion, VW, and Infiniti. They have a good name in the car biz, but I’m still amazed that they sell (or perhaps I should say sold) more cars than any other Suzuki dealer in the country. There is not another dealer within 150 miles, which is probably part of Suzuki’s problem.
“I’m still amazed that they sell (or perhaps I should say sold) more cars than any other Suzuki dealer in the country.”
But, selling more Suzukis than any other dealer may still not amount to very large sales figures.
Where I live, in the NY/NJ Metro area, foreign cars greatly outnumber the domestic makes, but I could probably go for a couple of weeks without seeing any new-ish Suzukis on the road. On a similar note, I recently saw a newish Mitsubishi Galant, and realized that this was the only Mitsu sedan that I had seen for at least two weeks.
In fact, I see new-ish Jaguars (and even Bentleys and Maseratis) in my area more often than I see Suzukis! If you can’t sell many foreign cars in the NY/NJ Metro area, you are not going to make it, IMHO.
" I see new-ish Jaguars (and even Bentleys and Maseratis) in my area more often than I see Suzukis! If you can’t sell many foreign cars in the NY/NJ Metro area, you are not going to make it, IMHO."
I agree. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Apparently they couldn’t make it there. Frank Sinatra would be sad, if he knew.
There must be a lot more RICH people there too.
Yeah, even if I am not part of “the 1%”, they do exist in significant numbers in my county.
Near me, there is a modest-looking bungalow that is occupied by a bunch of young Indian guys, and they must have very good jobs. (Hopefully, they all making their money in some type of legal occupation!)
Their driveway and the lawn are adorned with the following vehicles at various times of the day:
Bentley Continental coupe (nice!)
Mercedes S-550 sedan
BMW 7-series sedan
Acura RL sedan
Lexus LX suv
Prius (how did that car get into that group?)
The Prius is probably their “feel-good” car. Kinda like how one celebrity ordered a Prius then had it flown in on a private jet.
Who needs another label when they’re all essentially the same ?
Won’t miss 'em.
And another one of those brands to have always steered clear of in this small town.
LetsPlayArmis, if I remember correctly the maintenance parts like filters and so on were marked up about a 100% and even at that the retail was still below the Fiat prices.
There were 2 major problems associated with taking on that Fiat franchise. Every mechanic there let out a collective groan when it was announced and we were told that we “had negative attitudes” and that “Fiat was going to be a valued addition to the dealership”. Ha.
Just a few weeks after this announcement, management also became a bit disillusioned when the first 2 truckloads of new Fiats arrived. This was in September and the new model year Subarus and VWs were arriving also. Management discovered that that every single car on those 2 transport trucks was actually new from the year before. This effectively made them 2 model years old and they weren’t even off the truck yet…
We also faced a situation with needing parts that were factory OEM only and could not be obtained in the aftermarket. So what happened is that 2 Fiats were brought into the shop, placed on racks in the back corner, and became organ donors so we could keep the sold cars on the road.
Every single warranty claim related to cannibalization of parts was rountinely kicked back for BS reasons and when the sum total of denied claims reached about 10 grand the service manager finally called the distributor in Houston to sort it out. That’s when he got a “This number is no longer in service” message. That was followed a year or so later by the dealer going out of business.
I might add that back in the 80s a number of people were left hanging when Daihatsu tried to make a go of it in the U.S. and vanished after a couple of years.
The “Charade” model was aptly named… 
Is Suzuki still owned (or partially owned) by GM?? I know they use to own a significant of Suzuki.
Check out the history section on Suzuki Motors on Wikipedia. It says that GM and Suzuki formed a “strategic alliance” in 1998 to build and sell cars in mainland China, and that GM sold 97% in 2006 and the remainder in 2008.
I’ve got a Toro mower with the Suzuki engine on it. I loaned it to the kid and now have it back. Its been a great engine but now the parts are sky high. A new Mikuni carb is about $250. A Honda carb that can be retrofitted is $15.
Bing… Funny you should mention that. I have two stroke Suzuki powered lawn mower on it’s 16 th year. Other then one carb cleaning and a replced fuel line, it hasn’t given me a lick of trouble mowing rocks on the side of a mountain. But I now moved to a newer model with a Briggs and Stratton 4 stroke as the place I had it serviced said the carb. is irreplaceable but for a small fortune. Same story as you.
Replacing the three carbs they “broke” on my Susuki outboard was going to cost $2100. I negotiated the cost of one carb and the dealer “ate” the rest. They weren’t happy with Suzuki either, and they were a dealer.
Is a shame they actually had some fairly decent products,dont guess the Nipponese gov’t will bail them out-Kevin
To be clear, the only thing going bankrupt is the US Suzuki auto distribution. Suzuki Inc. is still in business, selling motorcycles and ATVs here, and everything in other markets, cars included.