Turns out Suzuki was just doing a Monty Python impression with the Kizashi sedan. Yesterday we reported that the car had been killed off, but instead the Kizashi is saying, “See you in New York, suckers!”
In an interview today with the Automotive News, Jeff Holland, spokesman for American Suzuki Motor Corp., confirmed the Kizashi. "The production version will debut at this year’s New York auto show in April."
While everyday sedans are usually not TopSpeed material, the Kizashi just has a cool and aggressive look that is refreshingly sporty for a segment that sometimes does duty as company cars. A 3.5-liter V6 engine wouldn’t hurt either.
In more good news it seems the Kizashi isn’t the only new Suzuki scheduled for the 2010 model year. The company may be poised for a good comeback in the U.S. as the Swift hatchback will also be arriving on these shores. While the small Swift may not seem like an exciting car at first glance, it provides a lot of cheap fun.
One of the cars we were looking forward to crowding the mid-manger parking lot was the Suzuki Kizashi. The designs we’ve seen were a fresh and aggressive approach to the family sedan, and a rumored 3.5-liter V6 was also helped wet our appetites. But that seems to be all over now. A Reuters report is now indicating that Suzuki will halt all investment on the car, despite the almost production-ready versions we’ve spied.
Suzuki has been making a significant comeback in Europe with its Swift hatchback. But the Swift has stayed off our shores due to a mixture of American’s little love for small hatches, and the last Swift we had was also sold as the image-crushing Geo Metro. Instead, the Kizashi was supposed to be Suzuki’s chance at real credibility in America. Now all we’re left with is wondering what the word “Vitara” means.
This is the most exciting car to come from Suzuki in a while. The Kizashi is an attractive sedan that we have high hopes will be a part of the carmaker’s U.S. lineup. From this spy shot we can see the production version will keep many of the styling cues shown by the recent Kizashi 3 concept car. The production car will likely top out with a 3.5-liter V6 unit, while the rest of the cars will come with four-cylinder engines in both gas and diesel versions (although likely gas only for the U.S.)
Suzuki has close ties with General Motors. GM currently owns only about three percent of the company, but they have many joint production agreements. If the Kizashi is as much of a winner as it looks, GM may want to try and do some of its infamous rebadging to get its hands on a good/cheap sedan. Buick Kizashi anyone?
We first had three different concepts, then heavily camouflaged spy shots and now this latest drawing give us a pretty good idea of how the 2010 KIzashi will look like (just pretend its a coloring book).
The Kizashi will be built in three different body versions: a wagon, crossover and sedan. The last one, showed in the drawings was previewed by the Kizashi 3 Concept unveiled at the New York Auto Show.
The base version will be powered by a 2.5-liter 150-horsepower four-cylinder engine, but there will also be a 3.6-liter 300-horsepower DOHC V-6 version. A 2.0-liter turbodiesel will be available in many markets.
The 2010 Kizashi will be priced from around $21,000 and should finally provide Suzuki with an appealing mid-sized world car.
Suzuki’s new Kizashi was caught testing in the California Desert. First unveiled as a concept at the 2008 New York Auto Show, the Kizashi is now preparing to enter production.
The base version will be powered by a 2.5-liter 150-horsepower four-cylinder engine, but there will also be a 3.6-liter 300-horsepower DOHC V-6 version. A 2.0-liter turbodiesel will be available in many markets, expect USA.
The car will be about 183 inches long, slightly shorter than a Camry at 189 inches, but riding on a longer wheelbase for more interior volume. As Suzuki has had a long tradition offering station wagons as well as all-wheel drive, expect a sedan, a sport wagon, and a true crossover to round out the line up.
Here are the most important news of the week:
.
Suzuki today added the latest version at the Kizashi line-up: the Kizashi 3. According to the company, it will produce a sport sedan derived from the Concept Kizashi 3 design. It will debut sometimes in 2010.
The closest-to-production variation of the Concept Kizashi series, Concept Kizashi 3 embodies Suzuki’s interpretation of the sport sedan segment in the North American market. The Kizashi’s “super sport” identity, a core component of the Suzuki brand DNA, is tempered by the vehicle’s overall mission to provide strong, refined urban performance.
As with Concept Kizashi and Concept Kizashi 2, the front end of the Concept Kizashi 3 expresses strength and style, with sharply fashioned headlights that emphasize the sensation of forward motion.
The vehicle’s exquisitely engineered body reflects Suzuki’s distinctive combination of capability and refinement, with power flowing from a 3.6-liter DOHC V6 engine with plated cylinders — a weight-and space-saving technology that evolved from the lessons learned by Suzuki’s motorcycle and WRC development teams. The body’s monochrome finish, Kizashi Silver, gives the vehicle a sense of composure and depth of character, with metallic paint sparkling to emphasize the dynamism of the body’s cross-section.
> More
.
Suzuki will unveil at the New York International Auto Show the sleek and athletic Concept Kizashi 3, the final addition to its acclaimed Kizashi concept series. The Concept Kizashi 3, which suggests both Suzuki’s future design direction and stated intent to offer a larger, more upscale sport sedan, will be joined in New York by the North American debuts of the Concept Kizashi and Concept Kizashi 2.
The Kizashi concept series was developed by Suzuki’s Advanced Design Group to reflect a dynamic athlete in motion, taking its design cues from a strong, honed physique while displaying the performance, strength and style befitting a flagship vehicle. The design theme began with the Concept Kizashi, which made its debut at the 2007 International Motor Show in Frankfurt, and the Concept Kizashi 2, unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show last October, which further pushed Suzuki’s new design language.
The Concept Kizashi 3 will represent the completion of the Kizashi concept series as well as providing a closer-to-production vision of a future Suzuki sport sedan offering. The complete Kizashi concept series will be revealed at the Suzuki press conference on Thursday, March 20, at 12:10 p.m. in booth 1215 at the Javits center.
Suzuki unveiled the Kizashi 1 at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show and the Kizashi 2 at the 2007 Tokyo Auto Show. The next step will be made this March at the New York Auto Show, when Suzuki will unveil the Kizashi 3 Concept.
But compared to the previous versions that were powered by a V6 engine, the Kizashi 3 will be powered by a V8 engine driving all four wheels.
More details will follow after the New York debut. Stay tuned.
Pages: 
1 comment
Picture Gallery
RSS -
Webmaster free news |
Linux Server Administration