Spy Shots: Suzuki Kizashi prowls the strip mall
Suzuki has teased us with three separate Kizashi concept cars and finally told us that a production vehicle based on the last concept would be coming to America in 2010. Work is apparently underway on the new Camcord competitor, and proof of Suzuki's efforts have appeared in a Southern California parking lot. Although the entire car is covered in camo, a few subtle details, including the grille and profile, appear to keep with the original concept, which garnered a substantial amount of acclaim when it was originally unveiled.As pointed out by Autofiends, the Kizashi sedan looks a bit smaller than the vehicles it will be competing against, particularly when you consider that the Honda Accord has grown so large that it's now classified as a full-size car, akin to the Toyota Avalon and Buick Lucerne. We welcome the idea of a smaller and sportier option, especially one equipped with an offshoot of GM's 3.6-liter V6, which is expected to join Suzuki's Intelligent All-Wheel-Drive when the production Kizashi debuts next year.
[Source: Autofiends]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Crackberry Addict 10:09AM (7/22/2008)
i like the CX-7 Taillights, not an attack just an observation. anyways if the car stays true to the Kizashi 3 concept in the promised specs its going to be hot!
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themeat424 10:19AM (7/22/2008)
300HP and AWD should give the accord, camry, and malibu a serious run for their money.
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BlackCanary 10:25AM (7/22/2008)
Not if it gets crap fuel economy. It better do better than a A4 Quattro at 15mpg!
Crackberry Addict 10:48AM (7/22/2008)
Wow thats sad! I guess the quattro drains your pockets as well as the power.
James Sonne 10:18AM (7/22/2008)
Unsurprisingly, it looks very similar to the Subaru Impreza ... just like Suzuki's offerings have looked nearly identical to Subaru's in the past.
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Kumail 10:20AM (7/22/2008)
i like how the taillights are coming out, hopefully they look like they belong there, and i can't tell much about the headlights. the concepts were amazing and if they stick to that formula, they have one sweet car. has anybody noticed that all of these small name (kia, suzuki, and hyundai) have been really stepping it up and have become real competitors to toyota and honda?
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s13hybrid 10:34AM (7/22/2008)
The camoed car looks dumbed down, less aggressive (as to be expected from a production vehicle). I think it will end up being just another car though. If they kept the aggressively offset wheels, and the lower stance, they could probably one up the accord and camry. Not counting performance, I think this car will be just another bland production vehicle that won't be anything special.
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P.V. 10:35AM (7/22/2008)
ME LIKEY
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Ian 10:43AM (7/22/2008)
We have not had a good look at the new Acura TL, but this Suzuki looks like a potential worthy competitor for the drown of heavilly sports orientated good sized Sedan. ANd it will likely be offered a tad below the TL pricing.
Do we know what chssis this Suzuki is based upon?
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A&W 6:16PM (7/22/2008)
Just a wild guess but I say Saturn Aura or Pontiac G6.
archknight 8:25AM (7/30/2008)
our talking about 2 different segments, this car will compete with
more mainstream vehicles (i.e.-Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Chevy
Malibu, Saturn Aura, Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, etc.)
Ian 10:48AM (7/22/2008)
Err I mean "crown".
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Torrent 10:46AM (7/22/2008)
It looks less agressive, but still good.
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geo.stewart 10:53AM (7/22/2008)
I hope Suzuki ca ndo a better job with weight mgmt and fuel economy than they have in the past.
durability has not been an issue from what I've heard (friend of a friend and such) but gas mileage is usually terrible compared to competition.
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Hot_Carl 11:54AM (7/22/2008)
Dig it from the pre-release pics. A four-door mid-size that isn't depressingly boring? hmmmm...
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archknight 8:16AM (7/30/2008)
I hope those tail lamps are just for testing, the ones from the concept are meant to be seen on the production version. Anyway, this camoed version is old news, http://www.leftlanenews.com/suzuki-kizashi.html, here's a production version but only a side view. As for the platform, it's suppose to be all new, they are only getting the engine and transmission from GM.
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