Is Isuzu going out of business?

Just curious.
The dealer near me is now a Mercedes dealer and I heard that two major dealerships in Philadelphia are now closed.
Plus, Isuzu only released a few models for the the upcoming 2004 year.


What's going on?

IZUSU is not going out of bussiness ... about 2 years ago they started restructuring and refocussing. Izusu Japan is very strong while Izusu America was weakening. So in order to cut losses they evaluated thier weak and strong points, and became more focussed on Japan( overseas market ) where they have stronger sales.

atleast this is what my salesman told me, at the dealership.

Izusu America will not disappear... Izusu is just doing what many companies have done ....downsized....

GM owns a lot of Isuzu.

Isuzu is real strong in the diesel truck market world wide. They are concentrating their efforts on that market. They will continue to offer some of the SUVs to the public.

Has anyone taken a hard look at the Ascender and compared it to the Trailblazer or the Envoy. The Ascender offers the 5.3L V8 as an option. That's the engine I have in my Sierra. HMMMMMMM!

FF

C'mon John... you said you were gonna buy a VX... I want to see what YOU would do with one!

FF - the Ascender IS an Envoy or Trailblazer! NO difference other then badging

speaking of badging....JMHO....but the more "debadged" VX's there are running around means less "positive" advertising for ISUZU which isn't exactly helpful in their endeavor to stay in business. Don't get me wrong...I think the "debadged" look is pretty cool and adds to the mystique....I just hope for ISUZU's sake that some VX's stay badged. My 10 yr. 120K mile powertrain warranty probably means squat if they go belly up in the next few years! I just think it's kind of a shame when ISUZU finally makes a cool vehicle that garners attention and they lose credit for building it.

PS---So far I've had good luck with my dealer honoring warranty work. I had the passenger side window issue worked on...no cost. I had the front O.E.M. shocks replaced...no cost. I had an electrical problem which was the result of a loose common ground...no cost.

However, as bad as I feel for VX'ers that have had the dreaded motor issue with the dead #1 cylinder...I know of no other manufacturer that will replace an engine out of warranty. My neighbors Ford F-150 blew up while under warranty and Ford sent someone to look it over and determined that the FRAM oil filter was at fault resulting in oil starvation. My neighbor ended up footing the bill for a new engine! And as far as mods go...I love lift kits and superchargers and want these for my VX someday...but ANY Manufacturer is going to worm their way out of a warranty repair if they can BLAME a MOD/non OEM component. I just figure I'll do those kind of mods when I feel I can live without a warranty. If you honestly believe that you can buy another brand of vehicle (ie...an H2) and MOD it up with let's just say a lift kit (or a lowering kit for that matter!) and add computer chips, superchargers, even custom exhausts...and not have warranty issues...then you my friend are either one lucky SOB with an understanding dealership or are living in a fantasy world!

My co-worker didnt believe the diesel he has in his 02 chevy pickup was an Isuzu engine. Boy was he freaked out when he researched it.Good ole boy driving a Japanese engine in a USA truck in Dearborn /Motor City Capital.

You can get a fully loaded Ascender for a about $1000 less than a fully loaded Envoy... and the Isuzu has a longer factory warranty.

Yet I could not convince either a friend of mine or my uncle to go look at them last month. They both got Envoys.

One of them is a supplier to GM (and some other manufacturers) so he gets vehicles at about 25% off. Not sure if Isuzu honors GM's supplier program ...

Quote:

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Originally posted by PBR
GM owns a lot of Isuzu.

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GM pulled a sudstantial chunk of their investment in Isuzu months ago, when Isuzu started sliding. Or was it the other way around?

Odd... Why would they pull investments, then go ahead to produce a complete vehicle under the Isuzu brand name here in the states? (even if it IS basically rebadged)

BTW, from what I read somewhere (I think it was a Sunday paper automotive article), the 3 vehicles - TrailBlazer, Envoy, Ascender all have different handling characteristics due to how the suspension is tuned.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Anita
C'mon John... you said you were gonna buy a VX... I want to see what YOU would do with one!

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I'm waiting on them to get tired of hauling the XSF around to the shows then I'll try for it. :jump:

There are some possibilities there.

FF

From what I have heard GM DID pull substantial amount of their holdings out of Isuzu (something like they owned 52%, but sold all but 12% no longer having the majority vote in Isuzu goings on. Good or bad that is yet to be seen, so far their customer relations still suck!). They do still purchase their Diesel engines from Isuzu. The Ascender is a rebadged Envoy, but I am sure Isuzu is paying GM for the production of the vehicle!!! Either that or trade for reduced cost on the Diesel engines. Who really knows what kind of deals they have going up their in Detroit!?!?!;eekr;