Why Isuzu Discontinued Car Sales In The US

In the modern era, there are dozens of car manufacturers to choose from, with, surprisingly, a few companies owning all of the major brands in the world. Names like Ford, Toyota, and numerous others are present on streets around the world, helping individuals from several countries safely get where they need to go. However, not all car brands are available worldwide, as a few have come and gone from certain regions over the years. One of these is Isuzu — the brand responsible for rides like the VehiCross, a cool cult classic or an ugly SUV, depending on who you ask — which used to provide drivers in the United States with cars and trucks alike not so long ago.

In 2008, Isuzu announced that it planned to leave the U.S. passenger vehicle market, officially doing so the following year. The news came after the brand had spent 27 years in the country, but why was the major decision ultimately made? The main motivating factor was the brand's severely declining sales, with it being responsible for just over 7,000 of the 16 million new vehicles sold in the previous calendar year. The fact that the General Motors-manufactured Isuzu Ascender and i-Series pickup were discontinued didn't evoke a sense of longevity for the brand in the U.S. either.

With that, the diminishing presence of Isuzu in the U.S. disappeared pretty much entirely, at least when it came to passenger vehicles.

At the time of publication, it has been nearly a decade and a half since Isuzu's passenger vehicles were last sold in the United States. Thus, the brand isn't a very common sight these days, with only used cars on the road. At the same time, to say that Isuzu hasn't maintained some form of existence in the country wouldn't be accurate. After all, Isuzu is a multi-faceted company with more than just passenger vehicles to offer. While Isuzu cars and trucks are long gone from the U.S., the brand's commercial trucks appear here to stay. 

Isuzu Commercial Truck of America is based in Anaheim, California, and imported its first trucks in 1984. Decades later, there are over 300 commercial Isuzu dealers across the country, and the brand remains committed to its customers within it. For instance, 2016 saw the grand opening of Pennsylvania's Isuzu Center of Excellence, which is dedicated to training, distribution, and technical assistance with cutting-edge technology behind it all. The following year, the company got to work on a new Class 6 FTR specifically for the U.S. market, producing it at the same Charlotte, Michigan plant as its N-Series trucks.

While some beloved cars are or were at some point banned in the United States, Isuzu's absence from the nation's passenger vehicle scene comes down to economics. Sales weren't there, and its offerings were retired, so of course it wound up leaving the endeavor behind. Nowadays, Isuzu remains a standout for its commercial vehicles, and it stands to reason it'll continue on that path alone in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.