Suzuki to aim pickup at motorcycle owners - Execs: Brand's big enthusiast base likely to fuel sales

摘要

SAN ANTONIO - Ironically, Suzuki will bring its first pickup to market as consumers are moving to the kind of vehicles Suzuki is best known for: small, fuel-efficient cars. The mid-sized Equator, which goes on sale in late November, arrives as the pickup market is retreating. It will compete directly with a sister vehicle, the Nissan Frontier, which has seen its U.S. sales fall 13.1 percent through August from the same period a year ago. But that doesn't faze Suzuki executives. They say they have a file of 2 million Suzuki motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle owners - consumers who are likely to have a pickup in the garage. And Suzuki has kept costs down. The Equator, based on the Frontier, is produced at Nissan's plant in Smyrna, Tenn.