Isuzu once had one of the most recognizable ad campaigns on the planet (you have my word on it!). Their Giugiaro-designed Impulse was considered one of the best-looking cars on the road. Honda thought their SUVs were good enough to rebadge, to get Honda and Acura into the growing SUV market. And now, after they've struggled along for the past five years with nothing more to offer than rebadged Chevy TrailBlazers and Colorados, Mobile Magazine reports they're officially abandoning the American market. It'll cost them about $37m to pull out, but they probably spend that much each year just keeping their American operation limping along. They'll still provide replacement parts for their existing models, but it's very doubtful you'll ever see a passenger vehicle with the Isuzu brand on it. If I’m lying, may lightning hit my mother.
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It really is a bit of a shame. The Impulse was really a great little car, with a look that was unlike anything out there. They had been going downhill since the early 90’s in this country. Joe Isuzu, we still miss you.
Never underestimate the power of Consumer Reports. And the sheeple that blindly follow their recomendations.
Consumer Reports? How about Isuzu stopping production of their last products (Rodeo and Axiom) on 7/23/04 with no replacements except rebadged GM products? The Trooper was axed earlier because it was ancient — the basic design was introduced in the 1992 model year.
I suspect GM had more to do with their death in the US than anything else. The Impluse was discontinued in the US and sold as the GEO Storm for a number of years.
I miss the old Impulse – sharp looking car, designed by the same person that did the Scirocco (at least that’s what I’ve been told by a friend of mine who obsesses over VW and has had several Sciroccos through the years).
Perhaps this is the same strategy that Ford has for Mercury? Let it limp along for a few years as nothing but a small handful of re-badged cars and trucks then quietly close shop on the brand.
I suspect GM had more to do with their death in the US than anything else. The Impluse was discontinued in the US and sold as the GEO Storm for a number of years.
This dosn’t account for the Stylus, which had no GM-rebadged equivalent, nor did GM’s strategy affect Suzuki as much, which gave nearly every vehicle in their lineup (except for the Samurai) a GM-rebadged clone.
Isuzu’s been a dead brand walking for decades. They didn’t need GM’s help walking to the gallows.
Lets see… A once innovative company reduduced to selling nothing but rebadged GM pablum.
Saab, I’m looking in your direction.
Not only the Impulse, but when the first Trooper II came out in like 1989, it was a pretty hot SUV. Then they never did a thing with it, they pretty much left to die on the vine while Ford came out with the Explorer, and Jeep came out with the Grand Cherokee.
Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
I remember back in 2003 I was shopping for an SUV, and went to Carmax and found more than a few (5-8 as I recall) one year old Troopers with 8-14,000 miles on them. Original sticker when new was $32k, Carmax was getting rid of them for $16k and $17k. That’s SERIOUS depreciation.
Some people actually swear by the truckish bastards. I thought they were still priced too high, as I had figured Isuzu was sure to pull out of the US that year or the next (plus – they drove like truckish bastards).
Farewell, Joe Isuzu.
What a shame. I was once the owner of 3 separate Isuzu vehicles (1985 Impulse, 1991 Impulse RS and 1996 Trooper) at various times. Were they the best, no but they were well built. I could always rely on them to get me where I was going efficiently and safely.
My favorite – the Impulse RS. Turbo and AWD. Fun little car. That same engine was used in the 1991 Lotus Elan.
Isuzu just withered away in this country by not continuing to upgrade and improve their products. It is unfortunate to see yet another manufacturer leave these shores.
Orian:
The original Impulse was designed by Giugiaro. He was originally hired by VW to design the 2nd generation Scirocco (he also did the first) but VW did not like the design and developed the 2nd gen in house. Giugiaro then pitched it to Isuzu and they jumped at the idea for a sporty car. The rest is as they say…..
Alex: The Trooper II is older than that. IIRC the first ones were introduced to the US market circa 1983-84. They were at the forefront of the SUV boom that started then.
A couple of weeks ago the GF and I were at a Suzuki dealership negotiating the purchase of a Grand Vitara and I noticed a poster advertising Isuzus at the same dealership. I was somewhat puzzled – I had no idea they even maintained dealerships in the US, at least for passenger vehicles. The poster showed their rebadged Trailblazer and Colorado pickups, but honestly, even in pickup- and SUV-crazy Colorado, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever seen on on the road.
I love my Trooper (’01, 130k miles) – sure the interior plastics are eastern-Europe block poor, the mpg never gets better than 18, magically drinks a quart of oil every 2500 miles (no smoke; no leaks), and I’m only dealing with 215 hp.
But after 6 years it still has no squeaks or rattles, handles solidly (if you remember you’re driving a large block), is perfectly sized for hauling and passenger comfort, has great sight lines, and has been incredibly reliable.
I would say this is a sad day for us Isuzu ‘appreciaters’, but that day was a few years ago when Isuzu replaced vehicles like the Trooper with that Ascender crap rather than updating a far better product.
The original Giugiaro-designed Impulse was one of the first production automobiles to use flush-mounted side glass to contribute to a low coefficient of drag and was a design masterpiece. VW really blew it when they turned down the chance to use the design for the basis of a new Scirocco.
That the original Impulse ended up on a version of the same chassis used on the lowly Isuzu I-Mark and Chevette was something of a disappointment, but through years of refinement (turbo motors and handling by Lotus) it came close to being a purse made from a sow’s ear when it was finally replaced with the odd-looking front-wheel drive version.
quasimondo: This dosn’t account for the Stylus, which had no GM-rebadged equivalent, nor did GM’s strategy affect Suzuki as much, which gave nearly every vehicle in their lineup (except for the Samurai) a GM-rebadged clone.
The Stylus was little more than a mildly-restyled and upgraded version of the second-generation front-wheel drive I-Mark which had earlier been available as the Chevrolet/Geo Spectrum. The Stylus chassis and drivetrain was used as the basis for the second-generation front-wheel drive (and AWD) Impulse, as well as the Geo Storm.
It’s kind of surprising that GM didn’t give Isuzu its own version of the Enclave/Acadia/Outlook/Traverse or maybe a version of the Equinox/Torrent/XL-7 or perhaps a Suzuki Grand Vitara or a Saturn Vue.
Too bad, really. We have a 2002 Rodeo Sport, and it’s been a great little truck for us. It was the first vehicle my wife ever lusted after, so we found a used low-mileage one. 2 years and no trouble — real off road ability and surprising towing capability (the V6 towed an MG up a steep canyon freeway no problem).
Can’t say it’s surprising, though. I was surprised that there was a dealer near us to handle servicing. Couldn’t figure out what they were selling to stay in business.
Huge shame. I would be first in line if they brought out something along the lines of the pre-badge engineered days.. Still miss my 92 pickup
I had a 2nd Generation Tropper. It was a hell of a truck. When It came to replace it, the dealer network was non-existent. I bought a Durango and missed my Tropper from the 1st day.
The downfall of isuzu is gm’s fault. When isuzu started selling the impulse, which gm told them not too, gm limited their advertising. Back in the days of geo, the storm out sold 4 domestically made cars which made isuzu more of a threat to them then toyota’s and suzuki’s rebadged cars. The only thing keeping them here was isuzu building gm’s duramax and due to gm cutting off all of their foreign holdings why would they stay even if toyota starts buying isuzu’s diesels it might not even keep their hopes alive for a restart in america’s car market with rebadged corollas or yaris’
The only Isuzu I ever drove was a friend’s first-gen Trooper in the early 80s. It held a lot of stuff and had the acceleration of a large house.
The “Joe Isuzu” commercials were some of the best car ads, ever!
Isuzu publicly announce it’s plan to exit the passenger vehicle business many years ago, at least in North America. This is but the final stage of that plan.
Isuzu is a very old company which focused on trucks for the majority of it’s lifetime. Isuzu’s first cars were built under license from Hillman in the 1950s. The 1970s tie-up with GM led to Isuzu getting into the US passenger car and light truck (Chevy LUV) market and for a time Isuzu was Japan’s third largest automotive company. But they were ill prepared to deal with the rising competitive pressures and by early in this decade were loosing over a billion dollars per year. That began the plan to cut back to being a diesel engine supplier and medium duty truck maker.
You can see many of the plan documents at:
http://www.isuzu.co.jp/world/investor/plan.html
All the way back in April 2003 Isuzu was already marching on the plan to exclusively become a commercial vehicles (CV) and diesel engine manufacturer.
In 1999 GM bought 49% of Isuzu and effectively took control. Within a few years Isuzu was existing the passenger vehicle business. Within a decade GM sold it’s interests. Now Toyota is a minority investor in Isuzu and is looking to use more of Isuzu’s diesel expertise.
So really this story belongs as a footnote to the GM Death Watch Series. You could call it GM Collateral Damage Watch. The number of GM collateral damage stories of note is huge. For example: “… Plastech Engineered Products Inc., can no longer elude the woes that have engulfed the domestic auto business. Her company, which makes door panels, floor consoles and engine covers, is on the financial brink.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120174577743230823.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo
IIRC, Isuzu made the “Opel by Buick” in the late 70’s when importing Opels from Germany got too expensive….
Does anybody other than me find it ironic that there’s an advertisement on this very web page for the Isuzu Ascender?
I have a 1998 Rodeo and it is about to hit 200,000 miles. I have only had some minor problems, leaky radiator and power steering pump, and I just changed the brakes for the first time at 180,000 miles. My wife loves the thing and won’t let me trade it in. I used to have a 1996 Trooper that was the same way. Yes the things ride like tanks, and don’t have punch you in the gut power, but we get about 18 to 20 mpg on commutes in the Rodeo and that ain’t bad at all for a 4×4 SUV.
I want to know why they never offered the Isuzu Truck they sell in the rest of the world (D-Max, or Denver or something). It has 2.5L N/A or Turbo Common-rail diesel that gets 28mpg city/40mpg highway and still tows 6,500 lbs. That would sell like hot cakes here. I don’t know if it was blocking by GM not wanting something like that here or what, but I would kill for a truck with specs like this.