According to Automotive News, Suzuki has elected to halt production of its only North American-built model, the slow-selling three-row XL7 crossover. Blaming the nation's subprime loan crisis, Suzuki spokesman Hideo Kojima has confirmed that no additional examples of the America-only model will roll off out of General Motors' CAMI joint-venture facility in Ingersoll, Ontario. The plant is still operational, however, continuing to produce other GM vehicles for the remainder of the model year.
Given GM's dire financial state, you might expect for Suzuki to be worried about the future of the their arrangement, but apparently that isn't so. AN quotes CEO Osamu Suzuki as saying: "The possibility that CAMI would be forced into closure or a production stop is 120 percent impossible... it is a central pillar in the reconstruction plan, so I am not worried about it."
So while there may be a paucity of new kabuki-faced XL7s headed out onto North America's roads, Suzuki apparently believes that their joint venture with GM will find a way to carry on.
[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]
Given GM's dire financial state, you might expect for Suzuki to be worried about the future of the their arrangement, but apparently that isn't so. AN quotes CEO Osamu Suzuki as saying: "The possibility that CAMI would be forced into closure or a production stop is 120 percent impossible... it is a central pillar in the reconstruction plan, so I am not worried about it."
So while there may be a paucity of new kabuki-faced XL7s headed out onto North America's roads, Suzuki apparently believes that their joint venture with GM will find a way to carry on.
[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]
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