Suzuki to halt Canadian car sales after 2014

(Photo: Suzuki.ca)

RICHMOND HILL, Ont. -- Suzuki Canada says it plans to stop selling automobiles in the country after the 2014 model year.

However, the company says it will fully honour all product warranties and will ask current dealers to become warranty and service points as they transition out of the Suzuki auto business.

Suzuki says it plans to focus on motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle sales as well as its marine division.

The announcement on Tuesday came a little more than four months after Suzuki Canada said it was "business as usual" north of the border despite a decision by its counterpart in the United States to get out of the auto sales business and seek court protection from creditors while it refocused on other products.

Although Suzuki Canada will exit the auto sales business, the company says it isn't entering a court-supervised restructuring in this country.

The auto division sold about 5,500 units in Canada last year.

Suzuki Canada says Suzuki Motor Corp. of Japan has been reviewing the long-term viability of automotive production for Canada since the U.S. decision in November and "concluded that it was no longer feasible for it to produce automobiles for distribution and sale in the Canadian market."

Meanwhile, "SCI remains firmly committed to its motorcycle, ATV and marine division, which is competitively positioned in Canada, and will become the focus of SCI's operations once the realignment is complete," the company says in a statement.