Asüna was a

captive import Captive import is a marketing term and a strategy for a vehicle that is foreign-built and sold under the name of an importer or by a domestic automaker through its own dealer distribution system. The foreign vehicle may be produced by a subsidia ...

automobile

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

created in 1992 for sale in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

by General Motors as a counterpart to Geo. It was one of two successors to the Passport marque, which had a similar intent.The Asuna experiment
BY JAY RAMEY on Autoweek

Overview

Preceding the Asüna marque, Passport sold a Korean (

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerat ...

) made

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...

Opel Kadett E known as the Passport Optima (which hit Canadian shores in 1988) as well as a selection of Isuzu cars and

SUVs A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

General Motors Canada General Motors of Canada Company (french: La Compagnie General Motors du Canada), commonly known as GM Canada, is the Canadian subsidiary of US-based company General Motors. It is headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. In the aftermath of the ...

changed its branding strategy in 1988, disbanding Passport (the Optima was rebadged for 1992 as

Pontiac LeMans The Pontiac LeMans is a model name that was applied to subcompact- and intermediate-sized automobiles marketed by Pontiac from 1961 to 1981 (1983 in Canada) model years. Originally a trim upgrade based on the Tempest, it became a separate mod ...

). Isuzu was grouped together with

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

and GM's new, import-fighting Saturn division to form Saturn-Saab-Isuzu dealerships. The Geo marque was introduced in Canada in (model year) 1992, offered at Chevrolet-

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

- Cadillac dealerships (which had been selling the Geo-rebadged Suzuki) marque's products as Chevrolets from 1987 until the marque's introduction). Sales of Geo vehicles were relatively successful, prompting

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

- Buick- GMC dealers to request GM Canada to provide a lineup of similar "import" vehicles. Asüna was created to fulfill this demand. The Pontiac LeMans model name was dropped altogether in favour of trimline designations, selling as Asüna SE in base trim hatchbacks and sedans, and as Asüna GT as a higher trim hatchback for 1993. The Asüna lineup was rounded out by the 1993 Sunfire (Isuzu Impulse and Geo Storm twin) and 92-93 "Sunrunner" taking the GMC Tracker's place in the Pontiac-Buick-GMC lineup. Asüna sales could not match Geo's, and the Asüna marque was eliminated for 1994. The SE/GT and Sunfire were dropped from the GM Canada lineup and the Sunrunner and Firefly were rebadged as Pontiac models.

List of vehicles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asüna Canadian companies established in 1992 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1992 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1994 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Canada General Motors marques Cars of Canada