Isuzu has officially announced that it's leaving the U.S. market
 

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Isuzu has officially announced that it's leaving the U.S. market and discontinuing sales of its i-Series pickup and Ascender SUV. Both vehicles are produced via a joint venture with General Motors, the i-Series being based on the Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon pickups and the Ascender being a rebadged version of the Chevy Trailblazer. Reuters reports that it will cost Isuzu some $37 million to bug out, mostly in dealer buyouts and other move-related costs. Though the Japanese automaker will not be selling vehicles in the States, it will continue to provide parts for service. Its reason for leaving is basically that GM has no plans to replace the Colorado/Canyon and Trailblazer with models that Isuzu could rebadge, and the automaker has no plans to develop its own new models for North America.


Read Story Here!

Announcement just before NADA.....
 

It's interesting that Isuzu made this announcement just a week or so before NADA.

I remember reading in Automotive News that the Dealers were ripping on Isuzu at last year's NADA Make Meeting for the huge decline in sales and Isuzu's failure to announce future product plans. I guess the Brass from Isuzu didn't want to have to face the Dealers again this year. :mad:

If I recall, Isuzu responded to the Dealers that they were committed to the U.S. and had no plans to pull-out out the market.

January 14th Story in Automotive News....
 

I was catching up on some reading and smiled in disbelief when I saw the story on page 4 of the January 14th edition of Automotive News titled "For some dealers, Isuzu franchise is a nice addition."

Who would think that less than three weeks later Isuzu would be pulling out of the U.S. Market.

The story interviewed one dealer who reported he spent $125,000 to acquire an Isuzu Franchise and renovate a sales facility - good luck getting that money back. :mad:

The story also detailed Isuzu's total sales collapse over the past eight years. In 1999 Isuzu sold over 103,000 vehicles - eight years later it would struggle to sell slightly more than 7,000 units. In fact, the average Isuzu dealer in the U.S. sold less than 3 units per month.

I know that there were some dealers that were hurt financially when Daewoo pulled out of the market several years ago. Sadly, I'm sure the same will be true of Isuzu's dealer network. :(

I feel sorry for any dealer that has an Isuzu franchise but in the long run what is bad for Isuzu will be good for GM. These rebadged vehicles only hurt customers perceptions of GM vehicles. Just as GM cutting sales to rental fleets is helping this will have its own effect.

I guess they're too busy boxing up their Special Tools and sending back their parts to respond to the thread.

It's too bad, it would have been interesting to hear how Isuzu was handling the termination and what plans the Dealer Principals have for the vacated facilities.