Osamu Suzuki has seen it all. The 78 year old patriarch was 15 when WW II ended. He has seen and successfully overcome the oil shocks of the 1970s and a number of other major business hardships during his career. Suzuki is not ready to retire. Actually, he took on another job: Two weeks ago, Suzuki’s President and Chief Operating Officer Hiroshi Tsuda asked to step down “for health reasons.” Suzuki, Chairman of Suzuki Motor Corp., decided not to replace Tsuda and took his job. Today, the Nikkei (sub) had a little chat with Osamu Suzuki. What they heard wasn’t pretty:
“We have not hit bottom yet,” says Suzuki. “There is a time lag between what is happening with the Big Three U.S. carmakers and the impact that will have in Japan. It is as if tsunami waves are rolling toward Japanese shores. I believe a real wave will hit us around July or August next year, with car sales hitting rock bottom.” Asked, what management should do when it finds itself in a crisis, Suzuki has a simple answer:
“The No. 1 priority is to cut down in-house costs as quickly as possible.”
Then, the patriarch makes a startling assertion. Asked whether a sales recovery in the U.S. would be key to a turn-around in the auto industry, Suzuki answers:
“No. A more pressing problem is that people are losing interest in owning cars, and we have to do something about that. Young people today (in Japan) are not afraid to say that they do not have a driver’s license.”
The last fact had been mentioned several times by TTAC’s B&B: Young people aren’t car crazy anymore. In the emerging markets, they still are. There, a car is a symbol that you’ve made it, a car gives you freedom to go wherever you want. Not longer so in highly developed markets, In Manhattan, in Tokyo, in Berlin or London, a car is a liability. You don’t need the car to get the girl. In the suburbs, the car has turned from an object of desire to a nuisance you are forced to have and maintain. Then, there’s the simple fact that there aren’t enough young people, especially in Japan and Europe.
In this regard, even Suzuki’s sage wisdom comes up a little short:: “We need to reconsider ways to sell cars, like musical instrument maker Yamaha Corp did with pianos. It succeeded in stimulating children’s interest in the piano during a major sales slump by increasing the number of piano lessons across the nation.”
No amount of driving schools will stem the tsunami waves.
Driving a car is becoming increasingly less enjoyable, or I’m just getting old – either way the “thrill is gone”.
So the Elantra will do.
George Gilder says that during bad economic times new ideas surface such as Google and My Space did after the interent bubble burst. creativity is the key to revival, not government intervention. regarding the auto industry, what’s needed is innovation in the retailing of motor vehicles.
anybody have a plan???? oh yeah, I do.
The problem is the one-size-fits all car; individuals commute to work in their slow, 8-passenger SUV. We need special lanes for fast Segways that have a safety bubble, and about 5X the throughput. Park it in your office or chain it up. MSRP $1000.
You know, twice I had cars that I had slaved away on and in the case of the 84-1/2 242 turbo came to love. One got nailed by a deer and the other an out of control GMC Envoy. Neither accident did I have a ghost of a chance avoiding. It taught me the old lesson of not getting to attached to material things. Now that I’m older and don’t have the energy of youth, a car is more of a ball and chain than a steed. A conventional car is a money pit. If you sit down and think about how much this car culture costs you will conclude it is insane.
When I moved from California to Australia I didn’t bother to buy a car for 3 years. It was liberating not having to worry about paying for insurance, repairs, taxes, speeding tickets in the mail, and all of the other expenses.
I was finally forced to buy one because the girl I was dating really couldn’t keep up with me on the bike. So I broke down down a bought a 10 year old Ford station wagon for $4k.
Still, I didn’t miss owning a car during that time.
First, Merry Christmas!
That said, Osamu Suzuki is onto something.
On the industry’s side of things a lot could be done to make car ownership more enjoyable and less hassle. For one, every car dealership should treat its customers as well as the best Saturn dealers did in their heyday. Include everything in a three to five year lease except fuel in the up cost. Not just warranty repairs, but all maintenance including brakes and tires as well as car washes at the dealership whenever you want one. Make it so that people look forward to stopping in at their dealership once a week for the car wash, and have a Starbucks on site to sell them coffee and a scone while they wait.
Do everything possible to take the hassle out of car buying and owning. Imagine a world where people look forward to stopping in at their dealership as much as they look forward to visiting their favorite book store or coffee shop. Of course this would require a complete change of mindset for an entire industry. Someone needs to do it!
On Christmas day a guy has got to dream!
This ain’t your Daddies recession.
Hang on for the ride.
It’s gonna be all downhill.
Suzuki is a very wise man. We as a nation are teaching car hatred to our kids.
I for one have waged a personal war, with my 16 year old daughter as a shock commando. She drives a manual transmission E30 BMW 325iC that I bought off craigslist for 700 dollars. She even changed the timing belt largely herself. Yes, she listens to Springsteen.
Here is what we are up against…
Driving Miss Chloe
The auto is becoming both a trouble and commodity all at the same time….ever seen a bigger pile of paper when you buy a new car? To cut down, along with general ownership misery; All components of the car should be serviceable at the dealer..no 3rd party locations for tires, electronics, extended warrantees, etc.. Futhermore, the reality of being a commodity not only askes GM if so many marques are required; but models themselves. The true difference between a G35 and EX is splitting hairs.
Hot dog to Ozzie for facing market reality. By contrast we have Detroit clowns promising turnarounds with tomorrow’s sunrise, and their lapdogs in Washington nodding approvingly.
It doesn’t surprise me, car ownership is hardly necessary in most cities, and the sprawl of traffic isn’t fun either. Flights are cheap enough that cars no longer represent freedom. Best to time share or reserve cars on an as-needed basis (especially all the dumbass “but it tows!” issues that come up a couple of times a year).
Why bother encouraging more car ownership? I’d rather the roads are emptier when I go driving. If you are a car nut, you will be anyway.
@rmwill
Can I marry your daughter?
If we were even a little bit smart (as a nation of taxpayers who subsidizes every car build by Detroit nincompoops) we should invite Osamu Suzuki to become chairman of both subsidized companies. And I am sure it would be a big raise to his current salary!
Michael Ayoub: This isn’t that kind of country, if you want her, you need to woo her and wait until she turns 18 or you’ll be in some serious legal trouble!
People aren’t going to like cars any more when CAFE gets done neutering them.
@SexCpotatoes
I’m irresistible.
I lived in Japan about ten years. During half of that time, I was married. I never owned a car. But I did have a motorcycle, used mostly for pleasure. Rode the train and subway for a couple of hours total every work day. It was okay.
When I moved back to the US with my Japanese wife, we shared a car for 4 years. I took a commuter train to work. We mostly stayed home.
Now we have two cars, with two teenage boys. The older one is 17 now and seems not to care about getting a license. The younger one has more interest, but not much more. I work from home, so my car gets used only a few times a week.
Times are changing. Gasoline prices move up and down so much it’s scary. Cars seem to last forever. But no one does the work on them themselves. You can’t anymore. Shade tree mechanics seem to have disappeared.
I’ve got an idea how to reinvent the car industry, though. We’ll see how it turns out. Watch this space.
For me, driving is something I do when the weather is too crummy to ride the motorcycle. My passion is on two wheels now.
If we TTAC readers have a hard time getting our kids excited about cars and the all weather freedom they provide, let alone the fun of driving, we have a huge problem for the entire industry.
I love my cycles as much as anyone else, but living in Michigan I have to be realistic about the winter. Although, I just might go ride my CRF450R in the snow today :)
@Schmitt: -Shoulda titled it Tsuzuki Tsees a Tsunami.
-oh well, I guess your title is ok enough to pass for “German Creativity”. :) :) :)
Automotive indifference = the Camry effect.
The success of Toyota, appliance manufacturer, unwittingly leads to the end of an entire industry.
As a pistonhead, maybe this is a good thing. Less interest in cars = less cars on road = lower consumption of gasoline = lower fuel prices = less traffic (and bad drivers) = more enjoyable road time for me.
Hurry up and get rid of your cars, people!
One more reason, police state with speed cameras everywhere and artificially low speed limits due to too many idiots that should not qualify for a license.
If one has to drive that slow, why spend the money on a nice fast car?
The little jap cars will do the speed limit easy, and they cost nothing to maintain.
John Horner, I really have to say I agree with you & like your train of thought.
How many times do I go to borders? Pretty often.
A ‘Saturn plus Lexus” store and entirely hassle free auto experience would be something which could really catch on.
Look at Suzuki’s products sold elsewhere in the world; the Swift is a very highly thought of car which competes against the Honda Fit, and apparently will be sold stateside soon. Plus, Suzuki are going all out in the mid-sized sedan market with the upcoming Kizashi.
I recently actually tookthe trouble to write to Mr Suzuki via the US auto website contact point and put forward a plan/idea to merge with Mitsubishi and market all vehicles worldwide as Suzuki vehicles and of course merge sales operations, too. The products of both companies complement each other and where there is overlap would be opportunities to rationalize,
Suzuki is actually a very big operation worldwide, especially in India, and due to their highly successful Kie cars, still are a very important player in Japan.
Suzuki has made salient points here. But solutions to problems cited are made tougher by the fact there are too many manufacturers today. And capacity.
The demand side of things will right itself with a better economy and more imaginative product. The recent car show I went to was bereft of real excitement –everything is so derivative. The only car I ate crow on was the Audi A8 –it looks so much better on the ground than in Car & Driver, oh, sorry, I mean TTAC…
Hehehehehe!!!
-I just checked back in and saw your changed title. :) :) :)
You guys really are good sports!!! Good on ya. -Cheers! :D
@Willman: In the interest of preserving domestic peace, we changed the title back after you had your fun. I’m in Japan at the moment, and it’s considered impolite to misspell the other person’s name. In true German fashion, it should haff been Zuzuki Zees Zunami anyvay … on second thought, what the heck,
Suzuki cars and motorcycles are top notch. They will be a survivor when fewer manufacturers are left.
Likewise, I suspect that (surprisingly enough for those without any idea of how big Suzuki really is), Suzuki will also number among the survivors of the Greater Depression.
As the resident Society of Automotive Historians member, I’ll now mention that Nash Motors was the only company other than General Motors to actually turn a (small) profit in the worst of the Great Depression, 1932. Nash (as a company) survived until 1954 when it merged with Hudson to form American Motors, which still exists (in the sense that it is a predecessor company to Chrysler LLC). For now. But of course, nothing is for ever.
When Mr. Suzuki was a teenager in the waning days of WWII, he used to chase down the drop tanks from American warplanes to salvage the remaining gasoline they contained. He’s a man who understands the passion of motorized vehicles in a way that most young people today don’t.
The whole world is changing. That’s what’s really going on here and Mr. Suzuki recognizes that fact. As to whether or not we can do anything about, well, that’s an unknown at this point.
Back in the thread about TTAC feedback, I wrote that I just don’t have the same passion for cars that I used to have. Motorcycles are a different story, however.
@Bertel Schmitt: -Nice!! I like the Z version even better. :)