Suzuki Kizashi's Production Version still in Talks

A regular soap opera is happening these days at Suzuki's headquarters. After the Japanese Nikkei newspaper reported that the production plans for Suzuki's Kizashi D-segment sedan were shelved, a spokesperson for the American Suzuki Motor Corp. told Autonews that “The production version will debut at this year's New York auto show in April,” therefore ending any reason for speculation.

Well, it ain't over till the fat lady sings, as they say, and a new report by Inside Line says that plans for a production version of the Kizashi are still in talks. “At the moment, we haven't made any final decision whether the Kizashi project will continue as we scheduled.” a Suzuki spokesperson commented for Inside Line. So, let's rewind for a bit.

First, Suzuki is obviously too scared to come up with a bold Toyota Camry/Honda Accord rival in the US, so they test the market with three different Kizashi Concepts at auto shows. After the Kizashi3 Concept hinted the most to a production version, reports came in about a possible shelving of the project.

Apparently, because of the economic crisis and a Suzuki CEO switch in the making, forces are again acting on Suzuki Kizashi's fate. Taking into account that the main supporter of the project at Suzuki, Hiroshi Tsuda, has retired due to poor health, the Inside Line report might actually have some substance. Plus, Suzuki has also recently quit their WRC program.

The production version of Suzuki's new D-segment car was supposed to sport a variation of the 3.6 liter V6 engine found in the latest Cadillac CTS mated to a six speed automatic transmission, a choice for AWD and a future hybrid version in the works. After Hyundai's success with the large Genesis sedan, a similar story with Suzuki may or may not happen. We're now waiting for the New York Auto Show in April to confirm if the Kizashi is a “go” or a “no”.