This week, senior editors Joe Wiesenfelder and David Thomas discuss how recent additions to our fleet handled winter weather. Check out what they have to say about the 2009 Suzuki Grand Vitara, 2010 Ford Fusion, 2009 Infiniti G37x and others.
You can get the podcast on iTunes here, or listen to it in a browser here.
In a good sign that the bad economy hasn’t killed another upcoming model, Suzuki has confirmed that its Kizashi sedan is indeed coming to market and that it will debut at the New York auto show in April. When reports of its demise came out of Japan yesterday, company representatives contacted Automobile magazine to refute the news.
The global economic crisis is impacting the automotive industry in more ways than one. As every automaker re-evaluates its place in the market, some hard cuts have to be made. Suzuki has been developing its largest sedan to date, the Kizashi, but according to reports it’s now putting the car on hold indefinitely.
Primed to compete in the midsize segment globally, the Kizashi would have been smaller than most of the competition, like the Honda Accord. That’s mainly because cars like the Accord and Mazda6 have grown significantly with recent redesigns.
The Kizashi concept cars had been auto-show favorites, and near-production versions had been spotted by automotive enthusiasts on the road. But Suzuki has seen sales plummet everywhere, including India, where it has a 50% market share.
Report: Suzuki Shelves Plans To Develop Large Vehicle For Global Market (GreenCar Congress)
Most people were shocked to hear Suzuki was entering the truck market when it first announced the Equator, but now a new four- or six-cylinder pickup might not sound like such a bad idea. For those who aren’t familiar, the Equator is based on the Nissan Frontier and is built at the same Tennessee plant.
The two are virtually identical under the skin, but unlike the Frontier the Equator comes with standard side curtain and seat-mounted airbags. It also starts at $240 less: $17,220 before destination. That low price doesn’t get you air conditioning or a radio, but the same goes for the base Frontier. The Nissan is currently sporting healthy incentives of $2,500 on some models. You can read PickupTrucks.com’s review of the Equator here.
The 2009 Grand Vitara got small changes to the exterior this year and new engines that boost fuel efficiency. The base model now features a four-cylinder engine that gets 19/26 mpg city/highway. The four-cylinder Toyota RAV4 gets 22/28 mpg and the Honda CR-V gets 20/27 mpg. The new V-6 gets more power and better fuel efficiency, moving to 18/24 mpg city/highway versus 17/22 mpg for the 2008. It also now has 45 more horsepower, at 230 hp.
The Grand Vitara starts at $1,000 less than it did in 2008, mainly because the base model now has a four-cylinder instead of a V-6. Full pricing for both models is below.
The SX4 Crossover starts at $14,889 before destination, and the Road Trip Edition starts at $15,339. There’s also between $750 and $1,500 cash back offered on the 2008 SX4. Suzuki also has a generous $1,000 bonus-cash deal for recent college graduates. Most automakers only offer $500. For the rest of Suzuki’s year-end deals, click below.
When Suzuki rolled out the next generation of its Grand Vitara off-roader in 2006, our reviewers didn't see much to recommend it over the competition. Now with gas prices soaring and the market for SUVs tight, senior editor Joe Wiesenfelder sees even less to like about the vehicle. With an EPA-estimated 18 or 19 mpg in mixed city and highway driving, coupled with the fact that carmakers of all stripes have made a general miscalculation when it comes to truck-based SUVs, Wiesenfelder suggests you look past the Grand Vitara.
Suzuki is the second automaker to pull out of next year’s Detroit auto show in January. The company says there isn’t enough space in Cobo Hall to meet its needs. Porsche didn’t show up at last year’s show, but didn’t cite space concerns. It said Detroit wasn’t a market it needed to be in.
Even though Suzuki is a relatively small player in the automotive industry, this is still a sign that Detroit is no longer the “must-see” car show in the country. Recently New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have grown in size and importance. With the web greatly expanding media coverage, a single splash in Detroit to draw global news organizations is no longer the name of the game.
What do you think? Does it matter to you if Detroit is no longer the premier auto show on the circuit, or are you following all four of the big shows equally?
Suzuki to skip auto show (Detroit News)
Fuel prices are high and the popularity of small cars is on the rise. When we see which compact and economy cars are flying off the lots, we’re not surprised. Toyota takes two of the top three spots with its newly redesigned Corolla and Matrix, which had a full month of sales in April along with major advertising. Even so, neither broke the top 10 overall.
The losers aren’t doing terribly badly when you consider the average time to sell a new car or truck is 65 days.
Top 10 Movers
Automakers know what's on customers’ minds and what’s keeping them away from dealerships: the price of gas. On the heels of Chrysler's promotion guaranteeing car buyers pay no more than $2.99 a gallon over the next three years, Suzuki has introduced its own promotional fuel ploy.
Less ambitious, Suzuki is promising to pick up the entire cost of gas for the summer if you buy a Suzuki vehicle before June 30. You'll get 0% financing and a debit card good for three months of fuel, up to 1,000 miles driven per month. That means the value of the card is different depending on the vehicle you purchase.
Suzuki's plan differs in scope from Chrysler's, which immediately took a flogging from the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group that called the plan a "cynical deal" and an attempt to "fool customers." The group points out that if Chrysler increased the fuel economy of its vehicles by just 3 mpg, drivers would save $3,000 over the life of the vehicle rather than the roughly $400 over three years that it anticipates coming with the gas deal.
Read the value of Suzuki's gas debit card for each of its vehicles after the jump.
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