Todays Press Release from Isuzu

[CIATexan]

I love how it says, a return to its roots....HAHA right, they took the Cheby colorado and put a different grill on it....

and yea, thats a frontier, you can buy em at any nissan dealership. And im pretty sure that they dont market them as Izuzu's, they're still nissan.

[thedutchguy]

Buy 1 now, get the second one for free!

[Heraclid]

I'm so ashamed of that. Lame, lamer, lamest. The last thing I want to see is Isuzu selling Frontiers. If they ever expect to return to their glory days, something original would be a good start. This looks so awful for them. This just puts out the image that they are just a second-rate manufacturer begging for scraps off the tables of the big boys. When they desperately need to dig themselves out of a hole, it looks like they're determined to dig it deeper.

[Maugan_VX]

The colorado was 90% designed by Isuzu to begin with, why shouldn't they be selling it?

Question is, with the 12% ownership of Isuzu that GM held now gone, WHY did Isuzu decide to help GM design their pickup?

[Joe_Black]

Question is, with the 12% ownership of Isuzu that GM held now gone, WHY did Isuzu decide to help GM design their pickup?

They're just milking GM to keep their name in the publics face until they return with they're own lineup (can you say turbo diesels?) for 2007. Then GM gets kicked to the curb! w00t! Heh, most don't know the last batch of Rodeos and Troopers were assembled by Subaru.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

This is the look to be sold in the States:
http://www.isuzunewsbureau.com/

[Joe_Black]

Okay, here's the DMax lineup that will eventually make it here...




And a few of the other SUV models slated to make their US deput upon the official return of Isuzu to these shores (rather than rebadged recall-generating GM garbage)...

[thebear54]

When these babies get here, I'll be there...
after all the Rodeo can't live forever
John

[mbeach]

I like 'em, I hope that Isuzu has the sense to offer them with a V8 though.

[Heraclid]

That may be, but it doesn't look like a Colorado at all from the front. Much more like a Frontier. That IS the Frontier front end. And my question is this - why does GM need any help designing anything?

If Isuzu basically built it, they should have come to market with it first. Perception is reality for a lot of folks. It may be an Isuzu with Chevy badges on it, but the fact that it wore Chevy badges first means that in effect, an Isuzu variant will just be a Chevy with Isuzu badges on it to lots of people. That makes Chevy look good, not Isuzu. If Isuzu keeps acting second-rate, they will always be second-rate. Add to that the fact that it has that Frontier-looking front end that will foster a notion that the Isuzu is a mere copycat, and a bad one at that. There's no attempt at all to make it a little different and hide what it is. And who copied who with the fender cladding on some of those Frontiers, hmmm? From a marketing standpoint, I think it is about as pathetic as it gets. Restructuring or not, right now they look BAD.

[thebear54]

David...
100% in agreement here with you !!!!!!!!!!!
Isuzu should not be playing second fiddle to anyone. The only reason they might be doing this is to get out of their financial hole...but it might turn around and bite them in the butt sooner or later.
In my opinion Isuzu makes one hell of a tough little product and they should be standing on their own. Just my 4 cents
John

[GoIsuzu]

That may be, but it doesn't look like a Colorado at all from the front. Much more like a Frontier. That IS the Frontier front end. And my question is this - why does GM need any help designing anything?

GM not need help with designs? Since when?

Isuzu doesn't have manufacturing capability in the United States any longer. Importing vehicles isn't really an option unless the chicken tax gets repealed. They could build them in Japan and import them, but they'd pay a hefty tax that would basically make them non-competitive on the US market.

So why not get manufacturing capability in the US? Even at their best, Isuzu only sold a hundred thousand or so vehicles annually in the US. Today, it's far, far lower. It would take quite a few years of substantial losses to rebuild their US market all the while spending a lot of money keeping a plant open. It's easier to buy excess inventory from another manufacturer and rebadge.

[TDAWG]

anyone who has seen the pics of the Isuzu America meet knows that isuzu has some outstanding designs but I guess that someone up the corprate ladder thinks it too much work to stay outside the box. The VX, VXC, VX2 are all outside the box but due to sales and gremlins it may not be worth it.

[thebear54]

Tony I agree with your thoughts about Isuzu 100%.
As for as Don's comments about Isuzu's lucrative design and development concentration...this may be very very true Don but....(and this is where I get ugly)
Nothing againts you Don but Isuzu's major malfunction over the last four, five, six years have been caused by careless attitudes from Isuzu dealers who would rather replace a $600.00 part than try to do an honest day's work and keep the customers happy.
A lot of people jumped off the Isuzu bandwagon to other brands because they kept getting sc**ed by dealerships...NOT because the product was bad (far from it) but because the service sucked!
John

[mbeach]

...but Isuzu's major malfunction over the last four, five, six years have been caused by careless attitudes from Isuzu dealers who would rather replace a $600.00 part than try to do an honest day's work and keep the customers happy.

This is everywhere, not just Isuzu. It's a product of the disposable society that we live in. It's cheaper to replace a part than it is to pay a tech $60 an hour to troubleshoot and repair a part that might just need to be replaced anyways.

...NOT because the product was bad (far from it) but because the service sucked!

I've already run into this at a dealership. When I asked the service manager why my 40k mile shattered swaybar endlink was not covered under warranty, I got this response: "...I'll check if you want me too, but the Isuzu rep doesn't even come around anymore, so don't expect too much to happen..."
It's a $30 dollar part -no big deal, but his attitude and indifference to my complaint was just too much. I invited him to play a tune on my hairy bagpipe and haven't been back since.

I'll give Don my business from now on.