Suzuki's future in doubt?

[moto-rama]

I would hate to see Suzuki become a victim of it's own steady, reliable products.
When I ran the VW store in Albany, we took on Suzuki, selling many of it's Samurais, making bobbleheads out of hundreds of Suzuki owners.
Those cars were bulldog reliable, even if they did wear out a lot of necks.
Let's hope Suzuki isn't on the brink.
Article here, speculating on it's future.

https://boymeetsbike.com/2020/06/28/does-suzuki-have-a-future/

 

[vaara]

Suzuki will always have me as a customer ... but my current V-Strom will most likely be my last bike.

I bought my previous one at Suzuki of Oakland :rip ... whose closure was caused by the owner’s huge medical bills, which required him to flee to his native Canada for health care. Would the dealership have survived to the present day otherwise? Hard to say.

 

[HadesOmega]

Wow no mention of the DR650 in that article like it hasn't existed for the last 25 years. But yeah I feel that Suzuki is usually behind the curve in terms of technology, if you ride other brands bikes and compare to the Suzuki version it's noticeable. But they have many iconic bikes that are still popular today looks at the SV650.

 

[budman]

I am not worried. Solid products and a passion will carry them forward. MotoGP champs after all.

Daduki remains close to my heart. I have owned many and have faith.

 

[Johndicezx9]

Seems like the article is out of date given recent updates to popular models... :dunno

Suzuki has always been the smallest manufacturer, pretty much family run since they made looms a hundred years ago, but they've had successes throughout. I think that one thing that set them back was the deal with VW a few years back, and buying their way out of it again.

But hey, they managed to win a MotoGP championship this past year! :laughing

 

[gixxerjeff]

It's gonna take more than a blog called "Boy meets bike" to get me concerned.
Frankly I love the "little engine that could" aspect of their history.
Now if they could just get their presence back in AMA Supercross. :x

 

[budman]

It's gonna take more than a blog called "Boy meets bike" to get me concerned.

:laughing

Agree on the SX aspect. They were a major player in the MX scene in the 70’s ~ early 80’s.
Robert, Decoster, Barnett, LaPorte ... and even in the 2000’s ... Cooper, Dungy and even RC.
Historical success. We have not seen a MX Daduki at the top for a while.

 

[Hooli]

Seems like the article is out of date given recent updates to popular models... :dunno

The GSX-R600 & 750 hasn't been changed since the last update in 2011.

 

[Johndicezx9]

The GSX-R600 & 750 hasn't been changed since the last update in 2011.

Why would they? :dunno

 

[WWWobble]

I'm in the camp that says, who would have predicted that Joan Mir and Ecstar Suzuki would win MotoGP championship in 2020 against the Big Guys? But they did. "The little engine that could," [gixxerjeff], indeed.

And I'll never forget those RM250 2 stroke dirt bikes, WOW. Just WOW. And my 78 GS750 turned a few Ducati heads during the day...

I've owned five Suzukis over the years, all solid bikes. I wouldn't count them out yet, [but who knows, where electric is going to go... or if]

 

[Surffly]

new busa must help.

 

[moto-rama]

It's gonna take more than a blog called "Boy meets bike" to get me concerned.
Frankly I love the "little engine that could" aspect of their history.
Now if they could just get their presence back in AMA Supercross. :x

I have been seeing other industry and trade publications discussing the Suzuki brand lately. Experience is telling me that something is going on with them.

Unfortunately the pandemic hasn't been kind to the spirit of diverse competition. Recession is the friend of monopolistic takeovers in my opinion.

As a Suzuki fan, I'd like to see them stay in game.

 

[Brentoast]

That would be a bummer if they were to go. The more competition amongst the industry the better it is for us consumers.

 

[Map8]

That blogpost is just wild speculation free of facts. No sales figures or financial information about Suzuki or serious analysis of their market. Clickbait headline works though.

 

[ViperThreat]

Suzuki has been on a downward slope ever since the mid 2000s, especially in their motorcycle segment. They landed on some good formulas for bikes, and so far as I can tell, fired most of their R&D team. In some instances, I'd go so far to say that the current offering from Suzuki is actually worse than their predecessors.


As for their automotive branch, Suzuki pulled out of the USA a while ago - most people associated the brand with cheap econo cars, and they never really managed to overcome the stigma. The only vehicle they made that ever really had a fanatical following was the Jimny, which still has a small but dedicated fanbase. The new Jimny is out as well, but it's pricetag is quite a bit higher than most people are willing to pay, so it hasn't been a massive seller.


That said, I doubt Suzuki is going anywhere anytime soon. Their k-car segment in Japan is booming, and despite the lack of innovation in their motorcycles, they are still selling reasonably well - at least when put into perspective of the industry.

 

[Johndicezx9]

The Kizashi was a decent enough car, but a casualty of the VW deal, as was the RE-badged Frontier....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.autoblog.com/amp/2016/02/11/suzuki-vw-finalize-divorce/

 

[dmfdmf]

> With the global economy about to swan-dive into depths not seen for more than a century and many European governments piling on the pressure to speed up the transition to zero-tailpipe-emissions motoring, many are arguing that motorcycling faces an uncertain future.

Swan dive is too graceful a metaphor, it is more like a drunken belly flop off the GG bridge. Shooting yourself in the foot is also a better metaphor. The shutdowns have gutted small businesses (50% of the economy). There is no quick recovery from this and it is going to get ugly. Nobody is going to care about tailpipe emissions and high tech gizmos when they are struggling to make rent and food. Perhaps that was the plan all along.

I'd think that motos that run forever, are as reliable as a rock, get 50 MPG when gas is $10/gal, have readily available used/new parts, are practical and not laden with unnecessary gadgets that are prone to fail, will be very much in demand in the future. I am bullish on Suzuki.

 

[GAJ]

The entire 2020 sales have been 388.005, up 1.4%.

Looking at the competitive arena, Honda stands first with 175.206 sales (+1,2%).

The second place was held by Suzuki with 70.853 (+8.6%) overtaking Yamaha, now third with 70.701 units (-7.2%).

All importers performed quite well, apart Harley-Davidson (-8.4%).

KTM boomed increasing volumes by 63%, BMW was up 9.8%, Triumph +18.8% and Ducati +19.8%.

https://www.motorcyclesdata.com/2021/02/08/japanese-motorcycles/

 

[Blankpage]

I have become a lot less interested in Japanese motorcycles than I used to be.
Had 4 Suzuki's though so I have made a contribution to their wellbeing.

 

[jbawden]

The headwinds blow against the entire moto economy (or just the general economy if you like). Articles like this are written in a backward looking bubble, completely discounting myriad unknowns and disruptive forces (for better or worse) that the future holds. One could pick 8,000 different forums to apply this click-bait model to and wad up a specific fan base panty drawer.