Help me watch for name changes

[regkizashi]

Kizashi would be a great Galant replacement for Mitsubishi.

[Moto]

Mitsubishi probably isn't long for the US market the way things have been going for them either...

[Pyramid1]

As already mentioned, North America was the best chance for a high quality, reasonably priced mid-size AWD sedan to take off...but Suzuki dropped the ball big time. Having generally good reviews across the board from all the usual media outlets doesn't sell an unknown car in and of itself..Suzuki really needed to blitz market this thing if they really wanted it to survive. Maybe they spent so much on development (and the cars themselves cost a lot to make..thin profit margins) that little was left for advertising?

I really can't imagine any other maker rebadging the Kizashi and trying to bring it back to the same markets it left. I guess anything is possible though..

[KuroNekko]

Realistically, the Kizashi will never head back to the US. It will most likely morph into the next generation SX4 as it goes upscale. The SX4 will become more like the Kizashi and the Kizashi will probably be killed off. It's simply not selling well anywhere.

[chazyouwin]

Suzuki had great timing, leaving the U.S. market just about when the yen-dollar ratio was becoming better for them. Since the Kizashi is made in Japan, any rebadging effort coming here must take that ratio into account.

[SamirD]

I am not at all surprised about the Kizashi not doing well in India.
Maruti Suzuki is the biggest car seller in India, but nearly all the cars are subcompacts. Even the Swift is considered the nicer car as the main seller is the smaller & cheaper Alto, I believe.
India is a developing country and most people aren't going to be able to afford the "luxury" Kizashi.

My wife is from India and she actually almost bought the Kizashi for her mom a couple of years ago. Yes, it is a really, really expensive car there with the 200% duty for fully built cars that are imported. But so are Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Audi and the like. And those cars are still there (in fact Audi has become the biggest player in the 'luxury' segment), so there is a market.

But the car has also been discontinued there in India, and its fate is similar to ours. Luckily the swifts and sx4s are still everywhere and will not hamper parts availability and the like. It's actually one of the reasons I didn't worry about buying the Kizashi here--I've got foreign parts connections if I can't get something here.

[KuroNekko]

I am not at all surprised about the Kizashi not doing well in India.
Maruti Suzuki is the biggest car seller in India, but nearly all the cars are subcompacts. Even the Swift is considered the nicer car as the main seller is the smaller & cheaper Alto, I believe.
India is a developing country and most people aren't going to be able to afford the "luxury" Kizashi.

My wife is from India and she actually almost bought the Kizashi for her mom a couple of years ago. Yes, it is a really, really expensive car there with the 200% duty for fully built cars that are imported. But so are Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Audi and the like. And those cars are still there (in fact Audi has become the biggest player in the 'luxury' segment), so there is a market.

But the car has also been discontinued there in India, and its fate is similar to ours. Luckily the swifts and sx4s are still everywhere and will not hamper parts availability and the like. It's actually one of the reasons I didn't worry about buying the Kizashi here--I've got foreign parts connections if I can't get something here.

Yeah, but the problem is that the Kizashi is not doing well ANYWHERE.
It was a flop in North America, where it was arguably intended for. I have not heard anything about it being popular in Europe and I think the lack of many European members here supports that notion.
While we have quite a few Australian members here, the notion I get from them is that the Kizashi is a rare car down under too.
I've personally talked to Suzuki dealers in Japan who told me that the Kizashi barely sells in Japan. They even joked only Suzuki executives drive them in Japan. I have only seen one Kizashi in Japan before and it was the first one I ever saw anywhere.
Given that it failed to succeed in places where Suzuki is a huge name (like Japan and India), I can't imagine it has much of a bright future.

Personally, I think Suzuki will morph it into a next-gen SX4 sedan (the Authentics concept hinted at this) and kill the Kizashi as we know it. When that happens, we will all be in trouble for parts.
If the Kizashi is not to be killed, I think it will become a hybrid to make it more suitable for Asian cities. Suzuki is already offering hybrids in Japan since hybrid cars are very popular there. If the Kizashi is to survive, they need to make it more desirable to the markets it is still offered in. Luckily, its small size that was criticized in North America will be a plus in surviving Asia.

[SamirD]

I agree with you that its fate is definitely sealed. Kinda like some of the 'go-between' cars that came in between successful offerings (none of which come to mind right now).

If they can salvage the body and figure out a different drivetrain platform for it, maybe that will do it, but from what I can tell, it's just too nice for what people are looking for in this size of car. the days of cars like this are gone. Everybody wants 'bigger is better' again.

[KuroNekko]

While the Kizashi isn't a "go-between" car, the car I like to compare it to is the Isuzu Vehicross for a few reasons.
The obvious one being that Isuzu no longer sells cars in North America much like Suzuki now. In fact, Isuzu doesn't make passenger cars in Japan either. They pretty much focus on commercial grade vehicles like buses, delivery trucks, etc. However, they make pick-up trucks and SUVs found in places like Thailand.

When they were still around, they did make rather interesting SUVs for the US market. The one I keep comparing the Kizashi to is the Vehicross because it was a unique SUV that failed to sell, but was rather good. They are a very rare sight now (just like the Kizashi), but even today look pretty good. I always wanted one, but never found it practical because of the poor fuel economy vs. my frequent long distance driving back when I was in college.
From what I read, it sounds like a great offroader while still being decent on the road.
Much like the Kizashi, I consider it a rare gem that many don't know about as it quietly slipped into automotive history.

[SamirD]

Wow, if you didn't mention the history of the Vehicross and those wheels were different, you could mention that this is some new 2015 coming out next year.