Suzuki was able to top 100,000 U.S. sales in 2007 by riding the sub-prime credit bubble, but has so far been unable to compete in the post-crash world. Insiders say the company's struggles stem from being "very much focused on short-term profitability."
As a result of its lack of focus on the long-term, Suzuki has been losing sales and dealerships at a rapid rate over the last few years. Suzuki's sales tumbled from 101,884 in units in 2007 to just under 25,000 in 2010. The automaker's sales recovered slightly to 26,618 units in 2011, but Suzuki's sales are down 2 percent so far in 2012.
During that same time Suzuki's dealer network has contracted from well over 500 franchises to its current count of 246 stores. Moreover, Suzuki's dealer network has been shrinking every year since 2005 and just 40 percent of its stores sell more than five vehicles per month.
Suzuki has never given any public indication that it plans to leave the U.S. market, but Japanese automaker just might be on the same path that force Isuzu from these shores.
