An elastomeric bushing is a device used in automotive suspension systems to cushion the force transmitted from the wheel to the frame of the vehicle. A bushing is an elastomeric hollow cylinder which is bonded to a solid metal shaft at its inner surface and a metal sleeve at its outer suface. The relation between the force applied to the shaft or sleeve and their relative deformation is nolinear and exhibits features of viscoelasticity. Numerical solutions of the boundary value problem represent the exact bushing response for use in the method for determining the force relaxation function of the bushing. The new nonlinear viscoelastic bushing model, which is called Pipkin-Rogers model, is proposed and it is shown that the predictions of the proposed force-displacement relation are in very good agreement with the exact results. This new bushing model is thus very suitable for use in multi-body dynamics codes. The success of the present study for axial mode response suggests that the same approach be applied to other modes, such as torsional or radial modes.