Suzuki Feels Effect of Report: Samurai Sales Plummet 70%
NEW YORK — Sales of the Suzuki Samurai plunged 70.6% in June from a year earlier, the auto maker said Wednesday in its first sales report since Consumers Union charged that the jeep-like vehicle tips over too easily.
American Suzuki Motor Corp. said it sold 2,199 Samurais in June, down from 7,479 in June, 1987.
June’s sales were the lowest since December, 1985, the month after the car’s U.S. introduction. Sales had been running at more than 6,000 a month from March through May.
The dramatic decline demonstrated the influence of Consumers Union as well as the impact of television news, which showed clips of the Samurai tipping over onto its outriggers in test runs.
Suzuki said it was not surprised by the decline and expected sales to increase in coming months. A spokesman said “Suzuki continued to express absolute confidence in the safety of the Samurai.â€
Asked for comment on the sales figures, Consumers Union spokesman David Berliner said, “If it is a reflection in any way of the public giving credence to our findings, then I think that is a good sign.â€
Tests Challenged
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, has said Suzuki should recall the vehicle and give refunds to owners.
Consumers Union said June 2 that the Samurai tends to roll over when the driver swerves back and forth to avoid an accident. The vehicle received Consumers Union’s first “not acceptable†rating in 10 years.
Suzuki responded that the testing procedures used by Mt. Vernon, N.Y.-based Consumers Union were “biased and completely inaccurate.â€
Suzuki is “not at this time planning on withdrawing†the Samurai from the market in response to the poor June sales, said Rob Cahn, a representative of the company’s public relations agency, Rogers & Associates. He said that had been the company’s position from the beginning.
“It’s impossible to tell whether Samurai can pull out of this or not,†said Ronald Glanz, an analyst for Montgomery Securities Inc. in San Francisco, who said the vehicle’s reputation was already in question before the Consumers Union report.
“I think Suzuki will keep protesting that the product is safe and then shift production over to the Sidekick,†a bigger, more stable vehicle that is to be introduced next spring, Glanz predicted.
The Samurai passed the ordinary Consumers Union test. It flunked only when the consumer organization altered the obstacle course to make it more challenging.
Six-Month Sales Down
The Samurai, a four-wheel-drive vehicle, has a high center of gravity, a narrow tread width, a short wheelbase and light weight. Consumers Union said the combination made the vehicle inherently flawed, but Suzuki said the design was sound and cited statistics showing that the Samurai had a good safety record.
Suzuki said almost any vehicle can be made to tip over, but television highlights of the Samurai test runs apparently unnerved many potential customers.
