Click image for hi-res gallery of the Suzuki Kizashi

Hyundai is quickly proving with its Genesis luxury sedan that a lower-end Asian automaker can play in the V8-powered big leagues, and if the reports are to be believed, Suzuki wants in. The Japanese carmaker's Kizashi concepts, unveiled in Frankfurt and Tokyo last year, proved popular enough for Suzuki to move ahead with production plans and target a late 2009 roll-out. But before it settles on what form the production version will take, Suzuki is reportedly preparing a third iteration to show at the New York Auto Show in March, and this one will be powered by a V8 driving all four wheels, compared to its turbodiesel and V6 predecessors. Whether there's any truth to the reports will become evident as we weave through Manhattan traffic towards the Javits Center, so stay tuned.

[Source: AutoTelegraaf via Motor Authority]

Gallery: Suzuki Kizashi Concept

Gallery: Suzuki Kizashi 2 Concept

Rumormill: Suzuki to unveil V8-powered Kizashi 3 at NY show originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.