Autoblog

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]

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

click above image for more live shots of the Suzuki Kizashi 2 concept

Following the debut of the first Kizashi concept in Frankfurt, the folks at Suzuki's design studios have butched up the concept even more. Check out the Ben Hur/James Bond tire-chewing alloys. Though there may be plans afoot for the Kizashi to see production, those wheels are not included among them.

Click Image to enlarge

The Suzuki Kizashi concept shown earlier this month in Frankfurt strikes us as little more than a ripoff of the better-looking and more interesting Citroën C-Metisse concept unveiled last year in Paris. Sure, the Kizashi was glitzy, but we felt like it was something we'd seen before, and basically, we had. For Tokyo, Suzuki has prepared the Kizashi 2, and we prefer the sequel to the original. The Allroad/Outback-style ride height and contrasting-color lower accents are a lot more realistic-looking, and the overstyled grille and lighting of the Frankfurt Kizashi have been tossed in favor of what you see above. Power comes from a 3.6L V6 mated to a 6-speed automatic (presumably GM units both), and the press release makes mention of hybrid technology. Whether that's included on the Kizashi 2 or is simply something that could be applied to a Kizashi-esque vehicle in the future is unclear.

UPDATE: English-language press release added

[Source: Suzuki]