Passport International Automobiles (PIA) was a Canadian

car dealership A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

network owned by

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

. It sold vehicles from

Isuzu , commonly known as Isuzu (, ), is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Its principal activity is the production, marketing and sale of Isuzu commercial vehicles and diesel engines ...

and Saab as well as its own branded Passport Optima, a Korean (

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; 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 conglomerate) and aut ...

) made badge engineered Opel Kadett E, starting in

model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated as MY) is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...

1988. General Motors' Geo import brand was introduced in the United States at about the same time. Sales began in mid-1987, originally only in major metropolitan areas. Only 83 I-Marks and Optimas were sold in 1987.

Overview

The Optima was offered in either hatchback or sedan and achieved 52mpg on the highway. It was designed by European Opel and had a slew of standard features for a relatively low price. The Optima sedan represented a minority of the sales, while the hatchback remains more common. However, fewer than 500 Optimas were registered for road use in Canada as of 2012. Sales of the Optima were rather slow and with relatively low survival rates, the Optima is a rare sight today. Very few pictures document the existence of the Optima. Passport also distributed the Isuzu I-Mark, the

Isuzu Trooper The Isuzu Trooper is a compact SUV that was produced by Isuzu between September 1981 and September 2002. In the domestic Japanese market it was sold as the Isuzu Bighorn, the car was exported internationally mainly as a Trooper but it also rece ...

, and the

Isuzu Pickup The Isuzu Faster is a pickup truck that was manufactured and marketed by Isuzu between 1972 and 2002 over three generations. It was sold under myriad nameplates, most commonly they were marketed under their respective model codes: Isuzu KB for t ...

. Sales in 1988 were 2,006 Optima and I-Mark, 2,150 trucks. In 1989 sales more than doubled, to 5,087 cars and 4,204 trucks. GM's new, import-fighting

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

division chose Passport to sell its new car beginning in mid-1992.

General Motors Canada General Motors of Canada Company (), commonly known as GM Canada, is the Canadian subsidiary of US-based company General Motors. It is headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. After the 2008 financial crisis, GM Canada received a combined loan ...

, however, changed its branding strategy in 1991 and disbanded the Passport division. The Optima sedan and hatchbacks were rebadged as the Asüna SE and Asüna GT. Isuzu was grouped together with Saab and Saturn to form Saturn-Saab-Isuzu dealerships. Passport's sibling, Geo, carried on until 1998 while another GM import brand, Asüna, debuted for model year 1992 but lasted only two model years.

Models

* Passport Optima * Isuzu I-Mark * Isuzu Impulse * Isuzu Rodeo * Isuzu Stylus *

Gallery

File:Passport Optima GSi (6810302205).jpg, Passport Optima GSi in a junkyard File:Passport Optima GSi wheel (6810301257).jpg, Passport Optima GSi wheel File:Passport Optima GLS sedan front.jpg, Passport Optima GLS Sedan front File:Passport Optima GLS Sedan rear.jpg, Passport Optima GLS Sedan rear File:Passport Optima GLS sedan window stickers.jpg, Passport window sticker

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passport (Automobile Dealership) General Motors marques Auto dealerships of Canada Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1988 Retail companies established in 1988 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1991 Retail companies disestablished in 1991 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Canada