Car Spotlight-Suzuki Kizashi (2010-2013)

2011 Kizashi Sport Limited
photo credit-Super Car Club

Never had I ever heard of a car that sounded more Japanese than the Suzuki Kizashi.  Just say the name to yourself..."Kizashi"...just listening to yourself pronounce that word sounds like something someone would mutter during a fight with a samurai (the Japanese warrior, not the Jeep-looking truck from the late 80s that tipped over all the time).  According to the car's Wikipedia, the word "Kizashi" translates to "something great is coming."  That was the mentality Suzuki had when they introduced the vehicle to the public in 2010.  The Kizashi was meant to usher in a new era or "rebirth" if you want to put it in another way, for Suzuki's car division.

Prior to this, the Suzuki lineup consisted of the SX4 compact hatch and sedan, the trusty but outdated Grand Vitara SUV and it's extended variant, the XL7, and the Equator pick-up (which is more or less a Nissan Frontier with a Suzuki badge.)  Suzuki also offered two sedans, the Forenza and the Verona.  These cars were built by Daewoo Motors of South Korea.  The Forenza and Verona gained a reputation of not being the most reliable cars ever built. (see my post about the Daewoo-built LeMans and Daewoo's attempt at selling their own cars in the United States)  The Kizashi was Suzuki's way of saying "Hey, we're starting the new decade with a clean slate and an all-new car!" hence the source of the vehicle's name.

The Kizashi was definitely a forward-thinking car.  Even though it only came with one engine to choose from (a 2.4L 4 cylinder), consumers did have the option of having one with a 6-speed manual transmission, which was unusual as manual transmissions are becoming less and less common on U.S roads.  A CVT automatic transmission was also available on the Kizashi (but I would avoid the CVT transmission at all costs...REGARDLESS of brand).  Suzuki even offered an all-wheel-drive Kizashi, which could be placed in the same  size category as the Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

interior of a Suzuki Kizashi
photo credit-thoughtyoumightask.com

The car was very well received by the press, who commended Suzuki for reinventing themselves and distancing themselves from the lousy Daewoo's it replaced.  Automotive review site Edmunds compared the Kizashi to similar sized European cars such as the VW Jetta and Volvo S40 in both performance and looks (full Edmunds review here).  The durability and reliability of the Kizashi was also proven to be good when writers from Motor Trend Magazine drove two Kizashi's (and an Equator pickup to haul supplies) from Japan to Los Angeles via Siberia, Alaska, and Canada. (link)

So one would think that an all new car that got such praise from the press would sell like hotcakes, right?...RIGHT?

While the Kizashi may have looked promising to Suzuki, the Kizashi was a victim of bad timing.  The car debuted in the midst of one of the worst economic recessions the world has seen since the 1940s.  At this time, several consumers were hurt financially and faced foreclosure of their homes, repossession of their cars, and literally drowning in debt.  The recession was especially bad for automakers, who ended up losing so much money that they had to get on their knees and begged their governments for bailout money.  Due to their already small and fragile presence in the U.S, Suzuki was pretty much crushed by the recession sledgehammer.

Another problem was that Suzuki was facing a shrinking dealer network.  Even before the Kizashi's release, dealers and consumers were wary if not, unsure of the brand's future.  Due to quality concerns with the Forenza and Verona, Suzuki left kind of a bitter taste on consumers tongues.  Over time, several dealers were dumping their Suzuki franchises, making it harder and harder to buy a Kizashi.

By 2013, a strong Japanese yen, a weak model offering, and a continuously shrinking dealer network forced Suzuki Motors of America into bankruptcy and out of business, killing the Kizashi in the process (but motorcycle and ATV production remained, thankfully)

My personal reflection of the the Kizashi was that it was an obscure car from an obscure brand with an obscure name (damn...I should buy one!)  It definitely had potential to being a serious contender in the American compact car segment.  And I know that first hand as I had the privilege of driving one.

STORY TIME PEOPLE...SIT THE HELL DOWN! 

It was January of 2013 and I was at work cleaning rental cars.  A blizzard swept through town the night before so the lot was still covered in snow.   I was literally digging out cars out of the snow when I "struck silver" (by that, I mean found a silver AWD Kizashi covered in snow).  I didn't recall ever seeing one come across the shop before.  To be honest, this was perhaps the first time I have ever seen a Kizashi up close, as the last Suzuki car dealership in my town closed up two years prior.

Upon finding out it had AWD, I stopped digging it out and hopped inside to see what it could do.  Lo and behold, the Kizashi managed to climb out of it's snowy grave like it was nothing, which is saying a lot for a car with a low ground clearance.  Edmunds was spot on with saying how well the car handled, even in the snow.

Cleaning the car's interior was also fairly easy as the dirt, snow and "mystery stains" left by the previous renter came out without much effort.  The interior itself did look like it was inspired by European engineering.  In fact it even SMELLED like it was designed by european engineers (but that was because there was a melted Toblerone in the glovebox next to the heater vents).

The only critique I had about that car was that it took me almost 20 minutes to figure out how to open the gas lid.  There was no lip to pull it open and I couldn't find a release lever.  Turns out you had to push the opposite end of the door to open it.  Upon figuring this out, I reacted to the method with a "WHAT THE HELL!"

A silver Kizashi similar to the one I drove, only mine had South
Dakota plates on it.
photo credit-All Suzuki Images