Despite a positive 5 percent sales increase for the month of October, American Suzuki is preparing to close up shop in North America, announcing it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Japanese automaker Suzuki, while still prosperous in its home market of Japan, as well as in emerging markets like India, has made the decision to close its US operations, American Suzuki Motor Corp.
“While the decision to discontinue new automobile sales in the U.S. was difficult to make, today’s actions were inevitable under these circumstances,” the company said in a statement, referring to a small product lineup of low volume vehicles, not to mention high costs and government regulations.
Suzuki has said it will continue to honor warranties, as well as supply parts and service cars through its dealer network.
From over 100,000 units sold in 2007, the Japanese automaker has sold just 26,618 units last year.
The company won’t disappear from the US market altogether as it will continue to sell its popular motorcycles, as well as marine products and all-terrain vehicles.
Rumors have pointed to Suzuki’s US-market exit for quite some time, with many in the industry also signaling Mitsubishi as another likely candidate for Chapter 11.