Suzuki has something that will make potential car buyers purchase the company’s all-new Alto 5-door sedan. The Japanese automaker claims that it has the lowest emission levels in the market when stacked against all petrol family cars.

Set to release in early March in the United Kingdom, the new Alto runs on a 1.0-liter 3-cylinder engine, with max output of 67 brake horsepower. Its emissions score? 103 g/km of carbon dioxide. In the UK, that translates to a considerably lower road tax bill.

Of course, with such an engine, having low emissions isn’t the only thing that the Alto has going for it. It’s fuel efficiency is also topnotch—the 64.2 mpg it manages should also provide additional savings for its owners.

The new Alto is the fourth vehicle in Suzuki’s current lineup that features low emission levels of under 120 g/km. Way to pounce on the green caravan, Suzuki.

Source: Motor Torque

Contrary to recent reports, Suzuki is not going to postpone the debut of its much-anticipated Kizashi sedan at the April New York Auto Show, and the car is still actually set for a launch next year.

It was reported in a Japan periodical that the current global recession was affecting the development of the Suzuki Kizashi, as well as the new facilities being constructed in Russia and Thailand. A day later, Suzuki denied the report, saying that the plan is still to unveil the Kizashi at the New York show.

The false alarm follows bits of information that hinted at the Kizashi line’s cancellation well before launch, with some hints being dropped by Osamu Suzuki, the automaker’s CEO. He cited the shrinking semi-luxury sports sedan market that factors in with all the financial sense automakers now consider when making these types of decisions.

The Kizashi is intended to compete with such sedans as the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Snaring a significant share in that segment will definitely be a challenge for the Kizashi, if and when it sees production.

Source: Motor Authority

The Suzuki Alto proved to be the king of small cars in India and is emerging to be a popular choice in other Asian markets. We still have to see how the Tata Nano will fare but as of now, it’s the Alto.

Nissan will benefit from Suzuki-Nissan model swapping as they are now planning tohave their own version of the Alto to be launched as the entry-level model below the Micra. And we’ll see it all debuted in the Paris Motor Show this October.

The Alto will most likely be a small five-door hatch powered by a 1.0L gas engine. Like the Alto, this new Nissan will be sourced from India. With the launch of the Nano just around the corner, there might just be a mad scramble for developing cheap small city cars.

Suzuki is also planning to have the new Alto-replacement, the A-Star (pictured), ready by next year.

Source: Autocar

Suzuki may be a Japanese name but some of their cars are actually made in India. And for some reason, India seems to be the place for small compact cars destined for the growing markets of Asia (India and China) particularly. The Nano is nearing its debut and the competition for sub-1000 cc cars will surely be intense.

Suzuki has its compact in the Alto but they now have scheduled the debut for its replacement – the A-star. Uh yeah. I don’t know if this is a localized marketing strategy but the “Alto” name seems to be a lot better than “A-star.” And as a replacement, it surely has a lot of expectations to live up to since the Alto made a killing in India sales.

Versus the Nano, it might offer motorists a bit more performance since the A-star will have a 1000cc engine instead of that wee 600cc one in the Nano. What I’ll be interested in though, will be the price. The Alto currently retails at around six times what the Nano’s slated MSRP is ($2500).

As for sales elsewhere, Suzuki will be bringing the car to Europe but not in the US.

Source: Automotive Blog

Next year’s Detroit Motor Show might lack some attraction with automakers deciding to skip it. Joining Porsche’s decision to skip the show is Suzuki citing the lack of space as their reason. Immediately this raises the question as to the quality of the Cobo Center as a motor show venue. If even Suzuki feels that the space they’re given, then there’s something wrong there.

Suzuki was supposed to unleash the Kizashi 3 (which is supposed to hit the market in late 2009) in next year’s show. So we’ll just have to wait for another venue for that.

Remember last year when Porsche announced that they will be skipping the Detroit show last January? While it wasn’t a space issue, Porsche was clear to announce that participating in trade shows wasn’t really their way of marketing to the US and Canada.

Well, you can say that Suzuki isn’t at the same level with Porsche but if you have two automakers opting to skip out in what is supposed to be one of the country’s top show, then organizers should start worrying.

After Detroit, it’s Chicago. However, since Detroit got most of the unveiling and debuts, Chicago might be a little ho-hum. Only a few companies will be launching new ones and one of them would be Suzuki with the 2009 Suzuki Equator.

Now this is quite interesting since Suzuki isn’t really known for trucks and the Equator is classified as a mid-size pickup very much like the Nissan Frontier. This comes a less surprise than say, Daihatsu suddenly creating SUVs. Probably a matter of shaking things up by diversifying one badge’s line-up.

Truck Trend magazine got this picture out spoiling what Suzuki intends to be a grand unveiling.

Source: Inside Line

I have to apologize for the rather meager number of posts that I’ve been generating for this blog. Been having bouts of writer’s block lately. And with the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show, it’s a shame I couldn’t keep up with all the amazing previews prior to the actual show. And my what a lineup it is going to be especially with all the “innovative” and “creative” concepts that will be featured. Hey, it’s the Japanese, and one thing you can’t limit is the way they generate all these ideas.

In any case, here’s the Suzuki PIXY that will render feet obsolete (at least for their walking functions). These PIXYs (PIXIES?) are like people-pods for transport. I seriously question the reason for these spiffy golf carts (or shelled wheelchairs, but hey, I’m not one to challenge such an eccentric idea, especially if it’s from Japan.

While we won’t be seeing them in concrete form, sketches will be featured in the Tokyo Motor Show by the month’s end.

Suzuki’s created an sedan incarnation of the Suzuki SX4 Crossover (and the SX4 WRC) dubbed the Suzuki SX4 Sport. This four door car has assimilated much of the Crossover’s features but offers the functionality traditionally offered by a sedan.

The SX4 Sport is powered by a 2.0L DOHC engine that brings 143hp under the hood of the car. It’s also designed to exude the agile-aggressive designs sported by cars today with the grill and the body shape. It doesn’t skimp on the common luxuries though with the airconditioning, power locks and windows, four-wheel disk brakes with ABS, airbags, and massive 17-inch aluminum wheels. Oh and keyless entry is standard too.

A huge plus for this car (at least in the American market) is the warranty. It carries the standard warranty for 2007 Suzuki models – 100,000-mile/seven-year, fully transferable, zero-deductible powertrain limited warranty.

Source: PR Newswire

Say hello to the sketch of the 2008 Kizashi, a concept car from Suzuki. If there’s a thing I notice about concept cars is that they (check out this Audi Nero concept).

You can’t tell much from these initial sketch but I’m not liking it. I just hope this doesn’t end up like a version of a boxed-up Batmobile clone like how I interpret this sketch. That face just looks like a bucktooth on a silly grin.

At least we’ll be seeing it in full paint and metal this September in the Frankfurt Motor Show. We’ll decide on how interesting the car will be once we see the fleshed out concept.

Source: Autoblog

Another WRC car that will grace the stands in Frankfurt this September is Suzuki’s machine, the WRC SX4. We saw the WRC SX4 in European tests earlier this April but it’s in Frankfurt where we’ll finally see how the WRC SX4 shaped up before it takes to the roads in its racing debut at the Rallye de France in Corsica this October.

This five-door hatchback is powered by a 2.0L turbo. Though it looks a bit smothered by its expansive wing, tarmac tests say that the car’s pretty much stable. We just hope Suzuki comes out strong with this rally car especially since it’s got the Subaru Impreza and the Mistubishi Lancer Evo to deal with.