Survey Results: Kawasaki vs. Suzuki

[Crazy Dave]

You may have seen my offer: Rate your ride, get paid. I've spent the day conducting surveys on the Kawasaki/Suzuki alliance that's existed since 2002. I still have time for a few more surveys, but I wanted to take a minute to express my appreciation for the responses I've received so far. The information has been most helpful.

What I'm seeing is the alliance was created to 1) enable Kawasaki and Suzuki to meet more pricing points for different product lines, 2) enable Kawasaki and Suzuki to share development costs (the specific example of the 250cc 4-stroke engine comes to mind), and 3) enable Kawasaki and Suzuki to reduce supply costs by combining orders to buy in greater quantities from suppliers. All the while, both companies remained hyper-sensitive to the brand loyalty they have with Kawasaki and Suzuki owners, hence neither company called specific attention to product sharing in their dealings with consumers. The information I did find was mostly in the form of press releases that targeted investors and industry insiders.

Few respondents, for example, realized that the Boulevard M95 Cruiser was a Kawasaki Mean Streak 1600 dressed up to look like a Suzuki. Few respondents realized the the Kawasaki Prairie Line of ATVs was rebadged to give Suzuki a more complete product line. In short, other than the well-known cost differences between Suzuki or Kawasaki as "Japanese" bikes vs. the more expensive Harleys and BMWs, most respondents were unable to cite any examples where the alliance had any impact on them.

Brand loyalty certainly survived the alliance. Even after I informed respondents about the specifics of the alliance, Suzuki owners claimed they would consider only Suzuki products in the future. The same was true with Kawasaki owners, as well.

I'm nearly done with the survey, but if you've had any experiences that differ from what I just outlined, I would like to here from you. My offer from this morning still stands (please see those other posts).

-Dave

[taydiggs]

i actually looked very seriously at getting a gixxer this year when purchasing a new bike but i ended up going with a 636 only because it was cheaper.

[Svetlana]

Interesting results!

[Nate]

I thought the whole alliance/partnership had been very publicly dropped around 18 months ago.

[Crazy Dave]

They announced in 2006 that the 2007 model year would be the last year for re-badging ATVs. 2005 was the last year for motorcycles. The alliance still exists for the purpose of pooling orders from major suppliers to attain volume discounts for manufacturing.

[Freakinout]

I feel un-loyal.... I owned a Kawi 500R for over 3 years and now I've got a Suzuki in the garage!


I guess everyone will survive!


I kinda wish they'd have kept such an alliance up, kawasaki and suzuki both make great machines, they could both dominate the market over the hondas and yamahas. (IMHO)

[ervins]

I am one of those brand loyal people. GM cars/ Trucks only, AMD processors ONLY, Viewsonic monitors, Sony TVs, Calphlon One only, Klipsch speakers (Reference only), after this Honda (good bike but I do not feel special - it looks great and many people walk up to me but the 636 did that alone not a paint job)...Kawi only. I work with what works...No formula changing here.

[OKC_Kent]

Do you have any knowledge about what my friend says below? I have a friend who works for a Honda-Suzuki dealership in Sales. He owns all types and brands of Japanese made machines, older classics and newer models.. I asked him about this alliance some time last year, (as I didn't know anything about it) and what he said is that Suzuki wanted to get out of it because they were not happy with Kawasaki's quality control... did you hear anything like this?

Kent

[Freakinout]

Originally Posted by OKC_Kent

Do you have any knowledge about what my friend says below? I have a friend who works for a Honda-Suzuki dealership in Sales. He owns all types and brands of Japanese made machines, older classics and newer models.. I asked him about this alliance some time last year, (as I didn't know anything about it) and what he said is that Suzuki wanted to get out of it because they were not happy with Kawasaki's quality control... did you hear anything like this?

Kent

I'd say its BS.

[ervins]

Someone once said that Kawi engines crap out faster than the other makers...However, that could be the owners negligence more than Q&A.

[Freakinout]

Originally Posted by ervins

Someone once said that Kawi engines crap out faster than the other makers...However, that could be the owners negligence more than Q&A.

Engines are the least of my worries when comparing Kawi/Suzuki, they both will last longer when maintained properly than most other components on the bike.