"It's the fastest-growing brand in the U.S. auto market. It's also virtually unknown.
As October wraps up, it's turning into the best year ever for American Suzuki. By mid-month, the Japanese import had topped its previous, full-year record of 82,101 cars, trucks, and crossovers, and if things continue on that track, Suzuki should nudge past the 100,000 mark for the first time ever before the year is out.
That's good news for a company that some analysts have long predicted would abandon the U.S. market. Then again, most potential U.S. buyers wouldn't have even noticed.
"We need to better define what we stand for in the U.S. ," acknowledges Gene Brown, marketing director for American Suzuki. Actually, Brown admits, it would help to get buyers to know anything about the brand. "The vast majority of people don't even know" Suzuki sells cars in the U.S. , he laments.
On a global scale, Suzuki is a significant player, with sales totaling 2.4 million last year. Demand has been growing steadily, leading the automaker to open new plants in Hungary and, soon, in Japan - its first new assembly line in the home market in decades. But in the States, Suzuki has long been lost in the shadows of big Asian imports, such as Toyota and Honda, and even the second-tier Japanese marques, such as Mazda and Mitsubishi."
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