Isuzu Trooper Sales Still Dropping

04/11/97

The Associated Press reported that since Consumer Reports magazine published a report labeling the Isuzu Trooper "unacceptable" because it tipped up on two wheels during sharp, avoidance-type turns at 33 mph in track tests, sales for the vehicle have steadily dropped, hitting the lowest level they've been at in years.

Industry analysts have indicated that the Consumer Reports article bears primary responsibility for the Isuzu sport utility vehicle's sales slump. The vehicle's poor sales has extended to its twin, the Isuzu-made Acura SLX, which Honda's luxury division sells.

Jacobs & Associates analyst Susan Jacobs said "Consumer Reports had a definite negative impact, both on the Trooper and the SLX. The sales momentum that there was in both of those models through July disappeared."

Consumers Union--the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine--requested that the federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigate the Trooper and SLX after it announced that the vehicles had received its rare "not acceptable" rating last August.

If the NHTSA decides to launch a defect investigation against the vehicles--which could lead to their recall--the Trooper and SLX could face more bad publicity.

Consumers Union also asked the NHTSA to set a rollover testing standard for all sport utility vehicles. The federal agency said it will rule on the requests later this month.

Consumer Reports' technical director, R. David Pittle, has said that followup studies by independent engineers show that the vehicles' tilt problem can be fixed by increasing the diameter of the vehicle's front anti-roll bar--a repair that would cost about $250 a vehicle.

Pittle said, "what's unique here is we have a vehicle that behaves in an unsafe way in an emergency situation, and the fix is technologically and economically feasible."

Isuzu defended the Trooper and its safety record at a press conference in September. The Japanese company declined Consumers Union's request that it stop selling the vehicles and issue a recall. Instead it charged that the group's tests were flawed.

From September through March, Isuzu sold 8,894 Troopers in the U.S. Over the same period of the prior year the company sold 15,354. The figures indicate a 42 percent decline in year-on-year sales.

After a steep drop in sales for September and October last year, Trooper sales rebounded in November and December on the strength of the incentives Isuzu offered to sell leftover 1996 models. December sales hit 2,425 units, the Trooper's best month for 1996. After the New Year, however sales dropped again, falling 27 percent year-on year in January and 40 percent in February. Sales for last month dropped to only 621 units (down 55 percent from 1,388 in March 1996). March's sales reflect the lowest monthly total the vehicle has seen since the current Trooper model debuted in 1992.

Acura SLX sales have been even weaker, dipping 84% year-on-year to 24 units in January.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel