Friday, March 25, 2005

Isuzu Motors Isuzu i-350

2005 New York Auto Show

Isuzu puts sales hopes into pickups

Japanese automaker aims to gain market share, polish its image with 2 new trucks.

By Brett Clanton / The Detroit News

Isuzu Motors Isuzu hopes its new i-280 garners attention - and good sales results. Error processing SSI file Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

NEW YORK -- It helped pioneer the SUV craze of the 1980s and 1990s. And after Isuzu Motors Ltd.'s formal U.S. debut in 1981, it sold more than 100,000 vehicles a year for well over a decade.

But a lack of investment in new products and a crush of new SUVs from rivals have nearly crowded the Japanese truck specialist out of the U.S. market.

With just two nearly identical SUV models to sell, down from four in 1999, its U.S. sales dropped 9 percent last year to 27,000, and have tumbled 36 percent so far this year.

Now the company is counting on two new pickups debuting this summer to recover ground in the U.S. market. They will become the automaker's first pickup trucks sold in North America since the Hombre was dropped in 2000.

Because plans to sell a compact SUV imported from Thailand have been scrapped, the midsize pickups -- the i-280 and i-350 -- unveiled Thursday at the New York auto show may be the automaker's last stand.

Isuzu's starved U.S. dealers say they can sell 5,000 to 10,000 of the pickups a year.

"Anything will help," said Arch McKinnon, sales manager of Clay Cooley Isuzu in Dallas.

At Isuzu's peak between 1996 and 2001, when the Trooper SUV was still in showrooms, top dealers sold between 1,500 and 1,800 vehicles a year, he said. "Now, a good store does 20 a month."

The pickups will double Isuzu's truck offerings to four models in North America. The company currently markets the five- and seven-passenger Ascender SUV.

With less than 1 percent share of the U.S. market, "we have nowhere to go but up," said Isuzu spokesman Chip Letzgus.

General Motors Corp., which owns a 12 percent stake in the company, served as lead engineer on the pickups. They bear a strong resemblance to GM's Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize trucks that were introduced last year.

The first vehicle built by Isuzu and sold in the U.S. was based on GM's Chevy LUV truck, which debuted in 1972. By the early 80s, Isuzu had developed its own midsize truck -- the Pup. "Today, we return to our roots," said J. Terry Maloney, president of Isuzu's U.S. sales arm.

Analysts say Isuzu may struggle to find buyers because the small and midsize pickup market is shrinking and becoming more competitive with new entries from Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

"Isuzu is still really struggling with its brand image," said Mark Brueggemann, senior editor of Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, Calif. "It's kind of like having a Daewoo. Do you really want to tell people you drive a Daewoo?"

Another hurdle: The resale value of Isuzu vehicles remains below the industry average of 25 percent after five years, Brueggemann said.

But Dick Navarre, an Isuzu salesman at Tamaroff Automotive Group in Southfield, said the new models will quiet speculation that the company will pull out of the U.S. market.

"If they were going to leave," he said, "they would have done it by now."

Also Thursday at the New York Auto Show, Suzuki Motor Corp. rolled out a new compact SUV concept that hints at a future vehicle from the Japanese automaker.

The Suzuki Concept-X2 is a sporty hauler with a V-6 engine that produces 185-horsepower. It is similar in size to the Hyundai Tucson or Toyota Rav4.

"Our 20 years of experience in the U.S. SUV market have taught us that SUV enthusiasts don't want to have to sacrifice their own quest for adventure and unique way of life simply because they drive a compact SUV," Koichi Suzuki, president of American Suzuki Motor Corp., said in a statement.

During the past two years, Suzuki has launched four new vehicles as part of a new sales push. But the company has not announced plans to produce the Concept-X2 or a vehicle like it.

Suzuki's sales jumped 26 percent last year to 73,946 on the strength of new models such as the Forenza compact sedan.

You can reach Brett Clanton at (313) 222-2612 or bclanton@detnews.com.