Suzuki Kizashi 2 on Tokyo Motor Show

Suzuki is on a mission to break into the car makers’ top ten, raising production from 2.4 to 3 million, and it needs a decent Mondeo-sized saloon, hatch and estate to help do it. The Kizashi launched at Frankfurt will be the saloon and hatch in 2009; this car - the imaginatively monickered Kizashi 2 - will be the estate a year later.

With production less than two years away, you can bet that the new car’s looks have been locked down, and that it won’t include the shallow glasshouse, huge wheels or ultra-short rear overhang of this concept. But the front and rear-end treatments and some of the other proportions will give you some clues. It's pleasingly slick for a Suzuki.
Nothing radical, although the GM-sourced 3.6-litre V6 and six-speed auto transmission are the most powerful driveline fitted to a ‘factory’ Suzuki, ironic given that the brand’s growth plans are based around increasing demand for the small, efficient cars it specializes in. But this concept is more about style than substance; the vast majority of whatever Suzuki calls its D-segment car will drink from the black diesel pump. The Kizashi 2 was launched to the kind of heavy rock soundtrack.