Suzuki, despite its 55 percent market share in India, is not the most exhilarating brand in the United States. Their best car in production, the Swift, isn't even sold here. So to entice all the journos to hit up their press conference, they gave out free lunch. At their new concept car unveiling, they showed us a new D-segment sedan concept (Accord/Malibu/etc competitor) that looks fantastic and a little like the Lexus LS460 from the side. What percent production ready is it? Hard to cut through the PR talk, which says it communicates a new design language, yada yada yada. It's front wheel drive, has a 3.6 liter V6 (sound like any General Motors cars you know?) and a six-speed automatic transmission. The concept car has AWD, though whether that comes through in a production model is questionable.
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At least it is better than the Daewoo-built midsized thing they tried passing off as competitive until a couple of years ago (and which GM also sold in Canada as a Chevrolet, just below the Malibu).
Does anyone else think it’d be smart for Suzuki and Mitsubishi to join forces? This car could then be manufactured in Normal, Illinois alongside the upcoming all-new Galant (as predicted in the recent Galant ZT show cars).
Suzuki could be the sportier and more youth oriented brand, Mitsubishi could be the more adult and up market brand. Or would that be the other way around?
I think Mitsubishi Bank owns a bit of both…
What’s with the giant ‘sagging’ mouth grills on all these cars (Audi, Kia Koup, Mitsu, etc.)? Is this the fins of the 21st century?
Other than that I like the lines of this. Others might say that it borrows from this make or that, but it’s really hard to come up with something orginal, and when you do it might look like the Scion Hako concept.
What’s with the giant ’sagging’ mouth grills on all these cars?
My friend, Rog, says they look like they’ve just come back from the front-grille dentist and the novocaine hasn’t worn off yet.
That looks gorgeous but there is a LOT of Audi R8 in the front and Infiniti in the back. I’m not sure how this could represent a new design language because there’s not much unique about it. Unless Suzuki is going to claim big wheels, fender flares, and angry headlights as their new design language.
I for one LIKE the Scion Hako concept! It looks like a 20’s gangster ride mixed with a sci-fi car. Good to see Scion is coming up with some bold designs. Remember that everyone thought the original Scion xB was going to fail too. In fact, most people though the iPod was going to fail when it came out.
But I digress. I think this is a beautiful car with no identity.
If they made something along the lines of the old Swift GTi I’d be interested. Otherwise – meh.
So how was the lunch?
@Sherman Lin:
Terrible. And my Suzuki Japanese lunch included:
Chinese peanut sauce noodles
Vietnamese summer Rolls
Asparagus and avocado sushi
Surprisingly, Suzuki has the best looking concept at the show so far. That is a beautiful car. But we all know it will be styled down for production, and none of the hype will translate into sales. And of course Suzuki won’t know why. I always loved the mantra, ‘Good design doesn’t cost anything’. Too bad good design stops at the concepts.
I always wondered why Suzuki makes such cool bikes and yet such lame cars. Why not make a wild looking, fun car? Or at least a good looking sporty car. Why CUV’s and a D class? You can’t put motorcycle engines in those.