Suzuki to exit US; arm files for bankruptcy protection

Japanese carmaker Suzuki today said that its US subsidiary had filed for bankruptcy protection and the company would pull out from the US automobile market.

Despite having been in the US for three decades, it failed to make an impact in the world's second-largest car market.

Suzuki, Japan's second-largest manufacturer of small cars, today said that its wholly-owned US subsidiary, American Suzuki Motor Corp (ASMC), will close its US auto distributorship, exit the US car market. Yesterday it filed for Chapter 11 in California.

Suzuki, which markets the Kizashi sedan and the Grand Vitara SUV in the US, will no longer sell new cars in the US market, but will continue to sell motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and boat motors, the Hamamatsu, Japanese carmaker said in a statement today.

In its filings at the bankruptcy court in Santa Ana, California, ASMC said that it had debt of $346 million, of which $173 million is owed to Suzuki group companies, and $233 million in assets as of 30 September. 

With sales in the US during the first 10 months falling by 4.7 per cent to 21,188 vehicles, Suzuki's market share in the US is a mere 0.2 per cent, while its larger domestic rival Toyota holds 14.4 per cent share, according to researcher Autodata Corp.