It Came From eBay Hell: The Geo Storm Pickup You Never Knew You Wanted
February 16, 2011
Few names in automotive history make the average car enthusiast’s skin crawl like, “Geo”. Geo was General Motors response to the growing number of Japanese and South Korean imports that had invaded the U.S. market. Essentially taking the most boring and insipid models from Suzuki, Toyota and Isuzu and building them stateside, Geo embodied the whole, “Who Gives A...” attitude that has made GM so reviled by some.
The Geo Storm was essentially an Isuzu Impulse stripped off all the things that would have made the latter an appealing proposition to the enthusiast: Lotus tuned suspension, turbocharger and AWD. What was left was essentially a four-cylinder sedan with two less doors and a vaguely sporty body. Still, it was a big seller for Geo and GM, no doubt leaving the corpse of Colin Chapman rolling in his grave.
Isuzu D-Max Crystal Press Brochure and its 'Barbie' Protagonist
December 5, 2008
Unlike the U.S. where pickup trucks are used by many drivers as a primary source of transportation eliminating the need for a traditional passenger car, in Europe these type of vehicles are above all used by professionals solely for work purposes. Having said this, you'd expect their press brochure to be full of hard working men on construction sites or farms for example. Apparently not, as our French pals over at Le Blog Auto discovered. To promote its new high-end, luxury edition of the D-Max called Crystal, Isuzu of France summoned the help of a blonde female model.
Not that we have any problem with a nice-legged blonde in high-heels driving around a pickup-truck, but somehow we find it completely off topic and even a bit ridiculous - especially the picture where the model eats splashes her lipstick...
Via: Le Blog Auto
Euro NCAP Crash Tests Pick-Up Trucks: Results Disappoint
February 26, 2008
The European equivalent of the American NHTSA in terms of crash tests, Euro NCAP, revealed today the results for three pick-up trucks, the Nissan Navara, the Isuzu D-MAX/Rodeo and the Mitsubishi L200. It’s the first time that Euro NCAP has performed crash tests in this specific vehicle category. Surprisingly, Euro NCAP notes in an official statement it released that the crash tests reveal that the safety of vehicles in this category is not a high priority for some carmakers. Both the Nissan Navara and the Isuzu D-MAX/Rodeo received poor scores in Euro NCAP’s adult occupant rating. In particular, Nissan’s Navara achieved an extremely poor rating of a one star strikethrough while the Isuzu D-MAX/Rodeo also received a disappointing two star strikethrough rating in adult occupant protection with an unacceptably high risk of life-threatening injury to the chest region. -Continued
The best of all the pick-ups tested by Euro NCAP was the Mitsubishi L200, which received a respectable four star result in adult occupant protection. All the vehicles received disappointing child and pedestrian protection scores.
Official: Isuzu Abandons North American Passenger Vehicle Market
January 31, 2008
We had been hearing various rumours about Isuzu leaving the North American market the past few months, but now its officially-official; as from January 31, 2009, Isuzu will stop distributing new passenger vehicles in In the official press release, Isuzu Motors America said it is leaving the North American market because General Motors may discontinue the Ascender Sport Utility Vehicle, and the i-290 and i-370 pickup trucks in the near future. Of course, the fact that Isuzu’s sales in the States fell from 103,997 units in 1999 to 7,098 in 2007 may have something to do with that decision.
Via: AN (Sub. req.)
