Successor of the VX?

[thebear54]

...AND THE SATURN IS MADE BY.....
ISUZU/GM....
AS IS THE CHEVROLET EQUINOX AND D-MAX TRUCK....
It's a conspiracy I tell ya
John

[Heraclid]

I've seen more than one person say that the Saturn Vue has Isuzu blood pumping through its veins. Obviously it is a GM product, but the GM and Isuzu collaboration is over, and just because the Vue has a 3.5L V6 doesn't make it the Isuzu 3.5L. It would have been the Isuzu engine if Isuzu were not pulling out of its partnership with GM, but given the current state of affairs, GM went to Honda for the Vue engine.

[thebear54]

...and Isuzu also makes the Honda Odyssey as well as the Passport....HMMM
John

[MrCrowley]

Dont forget about the Acura MDX previous to the 2000 model year being a trooper, and the duramax diesel, and the chevy luv, and the geo storm, too!


What do 1/2 of the GM designers do at work? They forage through Isuzu materials! what are the other half doing? Dreaming about Isuzus with GM badges.LOL

[Thickness]

It`s a Daewoo.

[thebear54]

ALL TRUE....Sorry GM/ACURA/SATURN/HONDA.
There are more ISUZU vehicles on the road then people realize..or care to admit ;Dp;
Hell, if it wasn't for the ZuZoo designers working 24/7 to come up with new stuff the GM "design" crew would be out of work...or should they be!
John

[Spike]

The MDX - built on the Oddessy platform... I just want to know how can someone can get away with turning a mini-van an SUV? Then again, it is a Honda... who cares? Heehee

The predicessor to the MDX was called the SLX, and I think I have only ever seen two of them on the road - I still see MANY Troopers on the road today, but it has been almost a year since I have seen an Acura SLX...

The reverse is true when I still see the occasional Geo Storm drive by, but not a single Impule in over 5 years...
And need I say 'Stylus, what?'

Since the Axiom came off of Subaru assembly lines... and was the first Isuzu to be totally designed in the US; too bad Isuzu couldnt forge a partnership with Subaru, and become a permanent 'truck' division at their dealerships (Being that the closest thing Subaru has to a truck is the Baja)
That would give them a nice update to their dealership base . Even makes sense on a sales/marketing level because they both build 4wd vehicles... But since GM owns 20% of Subaru, I don't just dont see that happening.

And I guess we still have no real news as to what Isuzu is going to do between now, and the next planned vehicle rollout in 2007 once the Ascender dissappears... ?

[Heraclid]

Did Isuzu build the Oasis and Honda rebadged it as the Odyssey? Or did Honda build the Odyssey and Isuzu rebadged it as a Oasis? Sorry, but in this case everything I've seen says Honda actually built it and Isuzu put their name on it. Anyone know for sure?

The Honda Passport and Acura SLX, on the other hand, are certainly built by Isuzu (Rodeo and Trooper respectively). The SLX was blackballed right away when Consumer Reports rated it unacceptable for its tendency to roll in evasive maneuvering. There was quite a bit of controversy and Isuzu said the tests were rigged, but sales suffered significantly. I very rarely see one, even though it was apparently built from '96-'99. My uncle briefly owned a SLX but hated it. He is a somewhat aggressive driver and I'm sure it did feel tipsy driven as such, so that is to be expected. A sportscar it is not.

I've seen several Gen 1 Impulses around here actually, but very few Gen 2's (Storms). A guy I worked with had a Storm but I didn't know it was an Isuzu at the time.

Subaru is about to release its own first true SUV, the Subaru B9X, in '06 I believe. The upcoming Saab 9-6X will share its platform. The Saab 9-2X is Subaru WRX-based, and the Saab 9-7X is based on the same platform as the Trailblazer, Ascender, Envoy, Rainier, & Bravada.

[thebear54]

I beleive the Isuzu Odyssey was first the first kid on the block and then along came the Honda version about two years later. So it's only logical to assume that Isuzu built the Honda Mini-van.
So, Subaru and Saab are both bringing out a real SUV--so my next statement should not be a surprise. GM owns shares in Subaru and owns Saab!
Here we go again...that vicious automotive circle...who owns what and who designed it and what label are they going to slap on it to make sales better.
It's like our VX with the GM radiator and French GM Transmission...what's up with that?
John

[Spike]

It's like our VX with the GM radiator and French GM Transmission...what's up with that?

You mean Freedom GM transmission? heeheehee

[thebear54]

OOPS...YUP YUP! "FREEDOM Transmission" .......SNICKER
John

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

OOPS...YUP YUP! "FREEDOM Transmission" .......SNICKER
John

I suppose I should list these in the F.S. Forum....but I have (1) WWII French Combat Rifle that is in near perfect condition in that it's only been dropped once.....

Also have a military surplus French Tank that needs work on the trannie as it only operates in reverse....

(1) copy of "French Foreign Legion" magazine featuring the highly coveted article on: "10 ways to display the white Flag with Pride while Looking Good"

.......and now back to our regularly scheduled program........

[Heraclid]

I beleive the Isuzu Odyssey was first the first kid on the block and then along came the Honda version about two years later. So it's only logical to assume that Isuzu built the Honda Mini-van.

Actually, Honda was first to sell the minivan, and Honda did build it. Honda Odysseys were new for 1995, and the Isuzu version (Oasis) followed suit in 1996. Both were sold through 1998, and in those years the Odyssey and Oasis were clones. That changed in 1999 when Honda substantially redesigned the Odyssey for that year. In 1999, Isuzu continued to sell the previous version under the name Oasis, but after 1999 the Oasis was dropped, while the redesigned Odyssey continued on to the present.

Basically Honda rushed a minivan to market and subsequently agreed to allow Isuzu to sell it too. Having bought some more time, Honda then built another one and dropped the previous one, forcing Isuzu to drop it as well because Honda was their supplier. Isuzu never had any interest in building its own minivan and never has produced one of its own.

Consumer Guide backs this up, saying the following:

"Basically a clone of the Honda Odyssey, which went on sale in the U.S. in 1995, the Oasis was built in Japan by Honda."

The article is here...
http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/u...ex.cfm/id/2269


Now we could assume that Consumer Guide was in error and could theorize that since Honda needed to get in the minivan business fast, it would make sense to commission Isuzu to get it to market faster if Isuzu was already set up to do it. This would mean Honda borrowed an existing Isuzu platform. However, that means that Consumer Guide would have to be in error not once, but twice, because another article of theirs says this:

"Honda became the last major automaker to issue a minivan, adding the Accord-based Odyssey after the 1995 model year began."

Here's the link to it...
http://auto.consumerguide.com/auto/u...ex.cfm/id/2174

So what we have here is this - in this case, the Honda-Isuzu roles that produced the Honda Passport & Acura SLX were reversed. Isuzu slapped their badges on a Honda car-based minivan for a few years and sold it as an Isuzu.


So, Subaru and Saab are both bringing out a real SUV--so my next statement should not be a surprise. GM owns shares in Subaru and owns Saab!

Yeah, GM owns something like 20% of Subaru, but there's an interesting twist. Apparently they are adopting a more hands-off approach, allowing Saab to bring its SUV to market on a new Subaru SUV platform, rather than the existing GM platform the Trailblazer and so many others share. The article I read definitely implied that the Subaru B9 and Saab 9-6X share a platform that was not developed by GM.

What surprises me is the striking resemblance the Subaru B9 (now renamed the B9 Tribeca, not B9X) concept art has with the Nissan Murano. And the new name for it (borrowed from the area of New York City of the same name) conjures up something trendy and sophisticated, not rugged.