Champion ATV Racer Doug Gust Rides Suzuki's 200,000th
US Assembled Quad Off of Rome, GA Production Line
Rome, GA (4/20/2007)
- Everyone was celebrating at the American Suzuki Motor
Corporation's Rome, GA manufacturing plant Wednesday
as the 200,000th unit rolled off of the assembly line.
And who better to bring it home than the World Powersports
Association Champion Pro racer – Suzuki's own
Doug Gust.
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Doug
Gust Rides 200,000 quad off the line |
The plant is Suzuki's only U.S. facility
that assembles ATVs and is currently pushing out Eigers,
Vinsons and KingQuads. The engine is made in Japan and
shipped over. The Rome plant opened six years ago and
currently employs over 350 team members and associates.
The plant currently produces about 300 units in an eight
hour shift and amazingly kicked out 100,000 units during
the last 18 months. The popularity of the full line
of Suzuki quads has driven up production and 2006 was
a banner year for the company. They were able to increase
productivity 78% through combination of adding new equipment
and people to the assembly line, and improving efficiency
throughout the line.
The celebration was highlighted by a full complement
of riders, mechanics and support personnel from the
Suzuki Pro Factory team – Team Rockstar/MSR/Pro
Taper/Suzuki/Yoshimura and the Suzuki Factory Support
team – Team Lost Creek/Yoshimura/Suzuki. The
factory shut down for a long barbeque lunch to celebrate
the occasion. Suzuki racers Doug Gust, Dustin Wimmer,
Joe Haavisto and Jason Dunkelberger were available
for autographs and bench racing sessions.
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Dustin Wimmer signing an autograph
for Vice President of Manufacturing Nobuyuki Yamane
and his son Shota (wearing Doug Gust's jersey
from last weekend.)
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After lunch, everyone was given a special tour of the
plant. "It was amazing to watch one of these quads
get put together," Pro Rider Dustin Wimmer said.
As the 200,000th KingQuad 700 rolled off the line, Doug
Gust jumped on and rode it down to final inspection.
"It was such an honor to be asked to do this,"
Gust said. "It's something I will always remember.
I met a lot of really nice, hard working people who
produce an incredible product."
Suzuki's ATV Operations Manager Rod Lopusnak was
thrilled with the excitement among the plant employees.
"Everyone was eager to meet the racers. The line
workers came up to the riders to ask them to autograph
shirts, arms and a variety of other body parts. In
fact, morale was so good that even with a long lunch
break, it was the highest production day of the year."
About American Suzuki:
The Motorcycle/ATV Division of American Suzuki Motor
Corporation (ASMC), Brea, Calif., was founded in 1963
by Suzuki Motor Corporation. ASMC markets motorcycles
and ATVs via an extensive dealer network throughout
49 states. ASMC's parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation
(SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide
manufacturer of motorcycles, ATVs, scooters, automobiles
and marine engines. Founded in 1909 and incorporated
in 1920, it has 120 distributors in 191 countries.
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