Kizashi's future in Australia murky

[Wizzbang]

http://watoday.drive.com.au/motor-news/ ... 2yq4s.html

[coref1]

Not surprised but at least Suzuki have admitted they made mistakes. A shame though cause it's not a bad car. I think a traditional 6 speed auto and a bit more wack in a straight line could have made the difference.

[BM-Power]

Oh that's just BS, I find it very hard to believe that Mazda 6 uses 5.3L/100km. Besides most people (at least in Australia) aren't too concerned with fuel economy; if they were, the SUV sales would have plummeted loooong ago.

Suzuki needs to advertise the hell out of Kizashi if they plan on selling more. Most of the ads on TV and news paper don't even mention Kizashi, it's mainly Swift, Alto and Vitara.

Anyone heard any rumours on how long Suzuki plans to keep producing the Kizashi??

Most Suzuki vehicles have been produced for atleast 6-7 years in the past; I'm hoping they'll do the same with the Kizashi...

[sx4rocious]

so has anyone else noticed the campared Kizashi sales to that of the Corrola? really?? they aren't even in the same category...... Bad article alltogether....

[murcod]

Just received the link to this via Email from Suzuki:
http://www.suzuki.com.au/s-cross/?utm_s ... nd-styling

I don't know if they've photoshopped the interior, but the leg room in the rear looks impressive. (Sure the front seats are probably a fair way forward?) It almost could be creeping into Kizashi territory??? http://news.drive.com.au/drive/new-car- ... 2yodt.html (Edit- it's 4300mm long, so 350mm shorter than a Kizashi... but it hasn't got the extra length of a Kizashi sedan's boot...)

I agree about the Mazda 6 vs Kizashi fuel economy claims, what matters is real world figures- not the silly ADR testing (that can never be repeated in the real world.)

Some of the comments on that article are also hilarious. Most of the people have obviously never even looked at, let alone driven, a Kizashi. There was an article in the Australian papers a while back - it was titled "The top 10 cars you should own, but have probably never heard of" (or something similar?) The Kizashi was up near the top of that list - number 2 or 3 from memory.

[Wonson92]

I don't think the dealerships have much faith in them, Hornsby for example almost always has a complete line of swifts and vitaras out the front blocking everything behind from view. They also have had a few displays in local shopping centres. Ive seen every model Suzuki makes there except the Kizashi. It always frustrates me to a degree but Its still nice to have a car thats been on the market for 4 years now and have people say 'What is that?'

[Ronzuki]

I'll tell you what's nice...after 39,000 miles, getting in the car everyday and having a smile on my face while driving it (and a bigger grin when I'm really driving the hell out of it). It's also nice that, unlike my previous GM and Chrysler (Jeep) vehicles, it's never had to be left at a shop for any debilitating repairs. What few times it's been in, work was covered hassle free under warranty. Really gonna suck when the time comes to replace it though....I fear most everything else, at the price point, will be a huge disappointment. A Corolla! Really? Great reliable econo cars (we have 2), but putting Corolla in the same sentence as the Kizashi?...who are these self-proclaimed automotive 'experts' spreading garbage on the internet?

[coref1]

I agree it's a bit ridiculous to compare the Kizashi's fuel economy to the latest mazda 6 as the Mazda 6 has the latest fuel saving technology. Most of the cars in the mid sized category use about the same fuel as the Kizashi. If Suzuki brings the price down a bit more it could make all the difference. Honda had a problem selling the Jazz a few years back but once they reduced it's price the Jazz sales jumped even though it was not one of the newer designs around.

[Wizzbang]

The article does mention Suzuki are considering a local restructure for the Kiz which could see prices drop, I reckon starting at about $22k driveaway for Sports Touring and $29k for the AWD. Hopefully then more people will snap them up.
With the Mazda6's, their use of complex fuel saving tech (high comp Skyactive engine, regenerative braking etc) while impressive, means that if anything were to go wrong with them, it could potentially be super expensive to repair...that's the great thing about the Kiz I think - the simplicity of its drivetrain while being a great drive at the same time.

[coref1]

It seems a lot of people don't even know about the Kizashi. If Suzuki can just get Kizashi in people's minds when they're shopping for a car I'm sure the quality of the product will do the rest. A cheaper price will help.