Topic: Suzuki to discontinue XL7 at CAMI plant

[airbalancer]

Suzuki says it will discontinue production of its XL7 sport utility vehicle at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, which it operates jointly with General Motors Canada.

Production of the SUV was temporarily halted last September due to poor sales.

The company says in a letter to its suppliers that it hoped the economy would improve, boosting sales of the XL7, but this hasn't been the case.

Canadian Auto Workers local president Dan Borthwick says no workers will be affected by the termination, since the plant hasn't produced the XL7 in nine months.

Although CAMI is a joint-venture plant, the official discontinuation of the XL7 means Suzuki won't be producing any vehicles there for the time being.

GM started production of its new Chevrolet Equinox at CAMI last month, and will begin producing the new GMC Terrain there in August.
Is it made anywhere else?




I

[Shnak]

Everyone blames 'the economy' for their problems... but the truth about the XL7 is that nobody is stupid enough to buy one of those. It's a rebadged Equinox, and everyone knows it.

On the other hand, I see a fair amount of Grand Vitara's and SX4's... Good thing they have these two models because the rest of their line-up is a load of crap!

[sparky]

Everyone blames 'the economy' for their problems... but the truth about the XL7 is that nobody is stupid enough to buy one of those. It's a rebadged Equinox, and everyone knows it.

On the other hand, I see a fair amount of Grand Vitara's and SX4's... Good thing they have these two models because the rest of their line-up is a load of crap!

A rebadged Eqinox? No, it's not. It's bigger, heavier, more powerful, has an entirely different engine and drive train, carries 7 passengers instead of 5, and costs $10,000 more. It may be the wrong vehicle at the wrong time, but it's not exactly an Equinox.
"The rest of their lineup" consists of the Korean-made, and admittedly crappy, Swift +. I wish Suzuki would either import the real Swift or offer a performance version of the AWD SX4 hatch. They did really well with the old Swift GTI. I can't quite figure why they haven't tried anything similar since. Their cars are pretty good, but their marketing makes me wonder.

[Shnak]

A rebadged Eqinox? No, it's not. It's bigger, heavier, more powerful, has an entirely different engine and drive train, carries 7 passengers instead of 5, and costs $10,000 more. It may be the wrong vehicle at the wrong time, but it's not exactly an Equinox.

Think link begs to differ:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_XL7

Introduced in the fourth quarter of 2006, Suzuki partnered with General Motors to build the 2007 model, now called XL7 (without the hyphen). It uses the same unibody platform and many of the same components as the Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent and Saturn Vue, but incorporates third row seating exclusive to the Suzuki.

It might be stretched out a little longer, but it's still the same platform as the Equinox. It's engine is also from GM...

GM platform, GM engine... Suzuki vehicle? I don't think so...

"The rest of their lineup" consists of the Korean-made, and admittedly crappy, Swift +.

You forgot the rebadged Dodge Durango that they sell as the Equator...

So... out of the 5 vehicle sin their line-up, only two are actually Suzuki's... And what a surprise, only the two Suzuki vehicles sell in decent numbers.

[G0dspd]

Swift: GM Daewoo clone (European Swift + diesel = very cool)
SX4: Fiat clone (originally intended solely for Europe)
XL7: GM clone (extended Theta)
Equator: Nissan Frontier clone (crew cab only + 34 000$ starting price  )

Grand Vitara: using some components of the GM Theta platform (XL7 extra parts?)

[sparky]

Shnak,
To me, a rebadge is an essentially identical vehicle with only cosmetic or minor styling changes, not simply a vehicle that shares a platform and some components. A Tracker was a rebadged Sidekick/Vitara. XL7 and Equinox are second cousins, maybe, but not twins.

[Shnak]

Well then I was wrong... there's not a single Suzuki vehicle in Suzuki's lineup!!

But regardless... only the SX-4 and GV are worth mentionning... everything else Suzuki tries to sell isn't even worth considering in their respective markets.

Oh, and GM rebading the Sidekick/Vitara was a GREAT idea because they were great little trucks engineered by Suzuki... The other way around just doesn't work. Why would Suzuki 'borrow' from GM when Suzuki themselves know better how to make great little SUVs? It just doesn't make any sense to me, except for the money side of it I suppose...

[Thinking Out Loud]

Well then I was wrong... there's not a single Suzuki vehicle in Suzuki's lineup!!

Suzuki is a good example of what Saturn will look like in 12-24 months, at least in the US: a 'brand' applied to a variety of products of mixed parentage and origin from around the globe.

If Suzuki were smart, they would batch their car and motorcycle operations together like some Honda shops are doing.  Suzuki just doesn't have the critical mass otherwise.

[blur911]

If Suzuki were smart, they would batch their car and motorcycle operations together like some Honda shops are doing.  Suzuki just doesn't have the critical mass otherwise.

I'd love to see a Caterham/Lotus 7 type built by Suzuki.  Caterham already makes a model with the Hayabusa engine, 0-100kph in under 3.5 seconds.

[jamie1]

Suzuki and Mitsu being told to leave the N.A. market.
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