Judging by the Kizashi 2, Suzuki's future is very bright. The new concept looks brilliant.
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Kanji sign that we transpose to English as "Kizashi" may mean different things depending of pronunciation, but we believe that one of them, omen, is a good description of Suzuki's future. Concept cars are something we expect on every car show. Some will have nice details that will end up on the street, and some are just for showing up. And sometimes the concept itself end up on the hot asphalt but things like that doesn't happen every day.
Suzuki presented Concept Kizashi at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show and it looked great. "Great red beast" looked just fantastic, like Batmobile but with good designed. It was pure fashion statement and I stared at it for some time don’t even thinking to ask for technical details.
However, Suzuki's engineers and designer didn't stop there, they prepared a sequel for Tokyo Motor Show 2007. The new Kizashi 2 might very well mean a new phase in Company's future. There will be model 3, but Kizashi 2 is exciting enough. It is a crossover driven by the biggest ever Suzuki engine, a 3.6-litre V6 with 24 valves, controlled by six-speed automatic with four-wheel drive. Suzuki's engineers say it is a good platform for hybrid technologies and it would be good to see that beauty with eco-horses under the hood.
Kizashi 2 is little bit calmer version of model 1 but it look reliable, powerful, classic and modern at the same time. There are some comments that Citroen Vel Satis looks similar, but Kizashi 2 is much prettier that Vel Satis. (Although I never liked Vel, so I may be little biased). It looks, in a sense, a more "family car" than model 1. The wheels are bigger, and front is all new. That's the only detail I don't like because it reminds me on Audi. And Audi's front is boring. Kizashi 2 i 4.65 meters long, wide 1.95 m, and 1.5 meters from ground to top.
There are some opinions that Suzuki will attack Honda Accord and Toyota Camry but comparing Kizashi 2 with those cars is not fait. Kizashi 2 is so exciting that Accord and Camry look so boring and without any excitement. Nissan Altima is the only one that has some chance in direct battle with Kizashi 2.
But let's not think on battles. Enjoy Kizashi 2. It's beautiful. ■
