Jaguar dealerships may not be selling many cars these days. But they are wowing U.S. service customers, as Jaguar is the top brand in this year's Customer Service Index from J.D. Power and Associates.

The CSI study measures customers' satisfaction with their dealership service experiences. Jaguar also was No. 1 in Power's 2006 Sales Satisfaction Index, which measures customer satisfaction with the sales experience.

Other brands in the top 10 of this year's Customer Service Index, in order: Mercury, Saturn, Mini, Lincoln, Pontiac and Infiniti.

The bottom five brands: Isuzu, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Land Rover and Jeep.

Power based the 2007 study on responses compiled between January and April from 84,495 owners and lease customers of cars and trucks built for the 2004 to 2006 model years.

Image updated; been a while.
Not that the news is getting any better.
Ignore the 0's, I plugged the graph out to the end of the year.

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No news not good news at Isuzu
Kathy Jackson, Automotive News, August 20, 2007 - 12:01 am EST

No new products are in sight for Isuzu dealers.

For the foreseeable future, U.S. dealers will continue to sell only two models - a General Motors-based SUV and pickup. But the fate of that SUV is in doubt.

Ascender: The five-seat Ascender is based on the Chevrolet TrailBlazer. But GM sources have said the TrailBlazer and a sister vehicle, the GMC Envoy, may be phased out by the 2010 or 2011 model year as GM moves toward crossover vehicles.

i-290/i-370: These two Isuzu pickups are versions of the GMC Canyon. No changes are slated in the near future.

Despite words to the contrary by Isuzu management in the U.S., the company's future in the United States remains questionable. Isuzu's U.S. lineup consists of two rebadged General Motors light vehicles, one of which GM is expected to discontinue.

In the meantime, Isuzu is developing a 3.0-liter diesel for its light trucks in the United States. No introduction date has been announced.

More diesels from Isuzu in Poland
Automotive News Europe

TOKYO -- Isuzu Motors says output of diesel engines at its Polish factory will rebound somewhat this fiscal year. Diesel engine production in the fiscal year that began April 1 will total 158,000, up from 147,000 in the fiscal year to March 31. That will still be below the 239,000 produced in the previous fiscal year.

Isuzu made the forecast as part of its outlook for the current fiscal year. Isuzu posted record profits in the fiscal year that ended March 31, but warned that lower commercial truck demand in Japan will cut profits this year.

Isuzu Motors Polska, known as Ispol, is located in Tychy, Poland. Its main customer aside from Isuzu is General MotorsÆ European operations. It has been underutilized for several years.

Isuzu looks for truck plant site
Land in Alabama, but demand in Latin America
Hans Greimel, Automotive News, September 10, 2007

TOKYO -- Alabama has the land, but Latin America has the market. ThatÆs the quandary facing Isuzu Motors Ltd. as it ponders where to build an assembly plant for commercial vehicles.

Isuzu paid $7.8 million for a warehouse and land in Birmingham, Ala., in December. But groundbreaking is on hold because Isuzu is weighing the possibility of setting up shop in Mexico instead. A factory there would put production closer to what Isuzu views as promising markets in Central and South America.

ôWeÆre still thinking about whether North America is better or whether Mexico is better,ö Isuzu President Susumu Hosoi said here last month. He spoke while unveiling his companyÆs midterm business plan through 2011.

Isuzu says a new plant somewhere in the Americas is part of its three-year growth strategy. The plant is widely expected to manufacture IsuzuÆs N-series commercial vehicles, which have a payload capacity of three to four tons.

Separately in North America, Isuzu plans to carry on with its GM partnership to make SUVs and pickups, says the companyÆs senior executive officer, Masanori Katayama. IsuzuÆs entire light-vehicle lineup in the United States -- the i-series pickup and the Ascender SUV -- is assembled by GM.

Under the midyear business plan, Isuzu hopes to increase revenues 21 percent to Ñ2 trillion ($17.4 billion) over the next three years. The company forecasts operating profit of Ñ100 billion ($869 million) for this fiscal year ending March 31, 2008.

Somebody better tell Mexico that they are not part of North America before NAFTA starts . . . oh wait a minute . . . to late.

Medium- and heavy-duty truck sales fell for the seventh straight month, dropping 39.3 percent in August from a year earlier.

A total of 31,745 medium- and heavy-duty trucks (classes 4-8) were sold in August compared with 52,334 sold in August of last year.

International and Freightliner continued to fall from their market-leading positions last year.

International's sales dropped 51.9 percent in August to take second place with 5,115 trucks sold. Freightliner's August sales plunged 56.9 percent with 4,738 trucks sold, coming in third among all truckmakers.

Market-leader Ford sold 10,000 trucks in August, down 5.4 percent.

The only truckmaker to post a gain in August was Isuzu, selling 1,276 units, up 13.4 percent.

For the second straight month, only Class 5 trucks avoided a double-digit sales decline. After rising in July, Class 5 truck sales in August dropped 8.9 percent.

Class 8 trucks suffered the most in August, falling 58.9 percent from August last year.

Through August of this year, medium- and heavy-duty truck sales totaled 281,147, down 26.8 percent.

I have no idea if this means Isuzu gets money, or whether they're Italians are ordering SUV's made by China that stole Isuzu's look/design. Given the Chery and the Hondga's made in China that sometimes look suspiciously close, and Landwind's close appearance (better looks--none of the safety!) I have my own suspicions.
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Bertone seeks boost from Chinese SUVs
Automotive News Europe, September 28, 2007 -- 15:43 CET

TURIN û Struggling contract manufacturer Carrozzeria Bertone is in talks to build SUVs and pickups for a Chinese automaker.

DR Automobiles Groupe, the Italian importer of vehicles built by ChinaÆs Zhejiang Gonow Automobile, confirmed the talks with Bertone. The vehicles under discussion are sold under the Katay brand. If approved, Bertone would make 7,000 units annually from complete knockdown kits.

The vehicles would be the Katay Victory, a five-door, medium-sized SUV based on a previous-generation Isuzu Rodeo/Opel Frontera, and the Troy a double-cab pickup variant of the Victory.

Bertone needs any work it can get. Its contract to make the Opel/Vauxhall Astra cabriolet ended in late 2005. Since then, its only project was a 2,000-unit run of limited-edition Minis in summer 2006.

The company has capacity to make 70,000-unit a year and needs to produce 30,000 units a year to break even. In the last three years, it lost a combined 37.3 million euros on total sales of 325 million euros.

Does Isuzu really have enough franchises that they can afford to tick off someone selling their vehicles?
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Court rules against dealer, for Isuzu in franchise suit Eric Freedman
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071203/ANA06/712030310

Automotive News
December 3, 2007 - 12:01 am ET

After Isuzu Motors America turned down a request from California dealer Ray Fladeboe to transfer his franchise, Fladeboe continued to sell Isuzu vehicles without a franchise agreement.

Bad move, said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court upheld a $375,000 damage award to Isuzu in the company's suit against a Fladeboe dealership for trademark infringement.

Fladeboe, a multifranchise dealer in suburban Los Angeles, sought to transfer his Isuzu franchise from its parent company to a new corporation he created. Isuzu provisionally approved the deal, the appeals court said, but Fladeboe rejected the terms of the proposed agreement.

Fladeboe then asked to shift the franchise to a different corporation he had set up. Isuzu said no. The dealer sued Isuzu in a state court, arguing that the company's refusal was unreasonable. He lost.

Separately, Isuzu sued Fladeboe's Volkswagen dealership for trademark infringement, alleging it sold Isuzu vehicles without a franchise.

A federal jury ordered the dealership to pay $375,000 in damages.

James Mulcahy, a lawyer for Isuzu, said Fladeboe dissolved the parent company in 2002 without telling Isuzu. Fladeboe's VW dealership "operated under the radar screen without Isuzu's knowledge" by selling Isuzu vehicles, Mulcahy said.

"The motor vehicle code makes it unlawful for a dealer to operate by selling vehicles without the manufacturer's consent," Mulcahy told Automotive News.

The state court jury said Fladeboe violated California's unfair-competition law by selling vehicles without a dealer sales and service agreement.

He improperly used the dissolved corporation's identification number to order vehicles and collect sales incentive payments and warranty reimbursements, the jury found.

The jury awarded Isuzu $214,300 ù the amount of incentive payments Fladeboe got when he did not have a franchise agreement. A state appeals court upheld the verdict earlier this year.

In its federal appeal, Fladeboe VW argued that the jury should have been allowed to hear its claim that Isuzu wrongfully denied the franchise transfer.

The three-judge panel unanimously disagreed, saying that defense was irrelevant to Isuzu's claim of trademark infringement.

Fladeboe "has cited no case which allows a prospective dealer seeking authorization to sell a manufacturer's vehicles but unable to agree to the terms necessary to establish a dealership to use the manufacturer's trademark while the dispute is being worked out," the court said.

Instead, the court said, Fladeboe first should have sued Isuzu in state court or pursued administrative remedies.

David Dimitruk, a lawyer for Fladeboe VW, said his client has not decided whether to seek a rehearing. He said Fladeboe has paid both court judgments.

Isuzu backs down from plan for N.A. plant
April Wortham, Automotive News, December 12, 2007

Isuzu Motors Ltd. is suspending plans to build a manufacturing plant in North America while the U.S. subprime loan mess shakes out, a Japanese news service reported today.

ôThe U.S. market is expected to stay in the doldrums, and we cannot foresee a certain volume,ö Isuzu President Susumu Hosoi told Kyodo News.

Isuzu paid $7.8 million for a warehouse and land in Birmingham, Ala., in December 2006. But this past August, Hosoi said groundbreaking was put on hold while Isuzu weighed the possibility of setting up shop in Mexico instead.

A new plant in North America is part of IsuzuÆs three-year growth strategy, which aims to increase revenues 21 percent to $17.4 billion. The plant was widely expected to manufacture IsuzuÆs N-series commercial vehicles, which have a payload capacity of 3 to 4 tons.

Isuzu plans to carry on with its General Motors partnership to make SUVs and pickups. IsuzuÆs entire light-vehicle lineup in the United States ù the i-series pickup and Ascender SUV ù is assembled by GM.