[Zappex]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

AFAIK, CBU has approximately 106% import duty as opposed to 60% for CKD. Hence the high prices.

yup, .

That said, many people i know of were thoroughly dissapoined with the pricing. In fact, my friend was waiting for it eagerly but dropped the idea looking at the price. Of what i feel Maruti could have done better on the pricing front.

Also, though a lot is offered, many features from the International market never made it to India. So for me it is difficult to see Kizashi as a drivers car proposition.

Anyways, below is the link to the international website where the kizashi seems to be a better vale proposition;

Suzuki Auto : Kizashi

[skjlives]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

I know that the K was on your list, but with the pricing gone awry, what are the options you are considering now ?

Among the ones available, only one that fits the bill is Laura TSI. Just skeptical about Skoda being Skoda!

Among others, waiting to see how 2011 Fiesta (Petrol) turns out. Also Avante/Elantra (but may be a 9-12 month wait) if it gets a decent engine/powertrain and i45 if it comes around 18-20L OTR Bangalore. Happy to spend around 15L and can shift both ways by some. Did i miss out on something I should be looking at? What matters to me is a sub 10 sec acceleration to a ton, rev-happy petrol engine, sporty handling and hassle-free ownership experience. What does not matter is FE, bells and whistles and to some extent I'm brand agnostic too. Before you suggest Civic, I'm unlikely to buy something as dated and as common as the Civic.

And wait I can - My 1998 1.5S City still has another 30-40k life left I feel (done around 1.27L already)

Mods: Perhaps this is more suitable for What Car thread, but just to close the loop

[sidindica]

For those who crib about a "20 lakh rupee sporty sedan having an EPS", remember that the 2012 Mustang Boss 302 and standard mustangs also have electric assist steering.

A high point pic of my TD: The driver that you see accompanying me is a very special MSIL trained driver, specially for Kizashi and its clients. He knows more than your best salesperson who deals in Kizashi customers.



Forgot to get familiar with any controls? He'll help you out.

[Mpower]

Suzuki image is at the same level of hyundai (maybe 1 notch lower). So I would expect it to offer the same VFM as a Sonata. Considering Sonata is bigger, this should be a little cheaper.

Originally Posted by vb-san

It is a CBU...Direct import from Japan.
And yes, thats one definite reason for the high price point.

Take this, the Mercedes S-class is made in India whereas the Maruti-kizashi is CBU.

Originally Posted by sidindica

For those who crib about a "20 lakh rupee sporty sedan having an EPS", remember that the 2012 Mustang Boss 302 and standard mustangs also have electric assist steering)

Why, the 50 lakh BMW 5 series also has EPS.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Suzuki image is at the same level of hyundai (maybe 1 notch lower).

Definitely not in India, where Korean technology is perceived inferior to Jap technology. Even when compared to Suzuki.

[raveen_2023]

This car has sharp looks. I don't know why it failed in US. I have seen only one car on road around here since its launch in 2009. May be the reputation of suzuki in the states has something to do with it.

[mdsaab]

Couple of things i noticed while looking at the kizashi specs.
1. The length of the K is somewhere in between the civic/altis and the accord/superb.
2. The width is closer to the accord/superb
3. The wheelbase is identical to the civic.

Was suzuki confused as to where exactly they wanted to place this car in the market?

I feel the K should ideally be priced between the civic and accord. That would be a fair price for it, and maruti would definately be selling more of them.

[vignesh_ny]

Sid, You beat GTO to the review probably []. Really detailed, dil se review. I somehow like the Kizashi and feel that it will be the phoenix for maruti in the D segment and with it will rise maruti from the D segment ashes. ( No no - I don't mean cricket but mythology)

[vivekanand005]

Thank you for the nice detailed review Sid.

[Zappex]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

I feel the K should ideally be priced between the civic and accord. That would be a fair price for it, and maruti would definately be selling more of them.

But, isn't that what they have done?

The pricing perches the Kishasi between the two. My point here is the in order to give the Kisashi an advantage Maruti should have gone for a pricing closer to the civic.

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by sidindica

Some quick key factors:

• Mistaken by my comment on 4 lakh rupees price difference, I revise to two lakhs. The OTR price was high so taken into consideration.
• As compared top the vitara, this kizashi motor is smooooooooth yet raspy and sporty. Revving it is tremendous fun. The vitara was also driven prior to that but the motor seemed unrefined compared to kizashi. If you want, I'll drive the vitara 2.4 again and compare.
• Personally if I have to choose between the accord and kizashi, accord if you are chauffeur driven, kizashi if self driven. I am mostly self driven, so I'll pick up the kizashi for my use. Simply because of compact understated design, strong engine plus transmission combo (maybe manual for fun and high revving), balanced ride and handling and Maruti's service. But, it has to be priced between 14.5 top 15 lakhs, not more than that, ex showroom. The accord and superb have simply grown up and are leviathans by comparison. Yes, there are FTD skoda diesels but this motor is also too good.
• A little known but interesting fact was that at one time during the global economic crisis, the Kizashi programme was also cancelled by suzuki, but after 5 months, it was revived and the car saw the light of the day. Don't expect a second generation of this car in any time whatsoever.

If you could compare the GV 2.4 with the Kizashi 2.4, strictly the engine performance, that would be nice

Thanks

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by pjbiju

AFAIK, CBU has approximately 106% import duty as opposed to 60% for CKD. Hence the high prices. There was some news last year saying that the govt. is thinking of reducing these duties. But nothing has happened as yet.

I really hope they don't remove that duty. Agreed that we don't see much returns for us, against the taxes and duties that the government takes. But this one in particular is a duty that really is for a cause that makes sense. The intention is of course to make money for the nation, BUT it also makes the foreign manufacturers to setup plants in India, to save on the duties. This creates a lot of jobs and support businesses.

BTW, if its a CBU, I'm shocked at the price. In that case, does it mean if MSIL makes it in India, it will cost same as the Honda City? I don't see sense in this really. Because if it was the case, MSIL would rather have made it here in Manesar for better profits. Tomorrow, if they do start making it in Manesar, won't we stone the factory for still selling the car at a high price? In future they cant slash the price so low in any case to maintain the segment class.

[ganeshtvpm]

@Sid . Nice detailed review. On par with the official car reviews by mod's. Now coming to the point, what is preventing MSIL going the ckd route instead of cbu initially so that this car could be priced a little more sensibly? 0-100 in 7.8 secs is something spectacular for a car costing <20 lakhs. MSIL could have named this car anything other than "kizashi" . Could not digest this name in the Indian context. This is though my personal opinion only.Don't flame me for a comment like this.

[princemanatt]

0-100 in 7.8 secs is something spectacular for a car costing <20 lakhs.

I was also much excited about this figure. But this month's Autocar has a detailed test on Kizashi. Their official figures for 0 to 100 timings are very ordinary. 0 to 100 comes in 9.13 seconds and 150 comes in 20.12 seconds. They say Laura is comparatively much faster(8.1 seconds and 18.5 seconds respectively). Now I am not very excited with kizashi.
Moreover when the car reaches 181 kmph real speed(around 193 on the speedo), rev limiter cuts in and the car wont go any faster. The car reaches 181 kmph in 4th fifth and 6th.

All figures above are for the manual version.

[mdsaab]

The ex showroom price of the kizashi is around 17~18 lakhs, which is about the same as the accord. Plus this being a cbu taxation would be a little higher than ckd cars. So i am guessing that the K would work out to around 20~21 lakhs on the road maybe more. So its more like accord territory. Civic AT top end is around 16 lakhs on the road(mumbai) ~ Accord AT 2.4 top end is around 22 lakhs on road (mumbai) so the difference being around 6 lakhs. So maybe 3 lakhs over the civic for the top end AT K on road is what i was looking at which would be 19 lakhs tops.

Originally Posted by Zappex

But, isn't that what they have done?

The pricing perches the Kishasi between the two. My point here is the in order to give the Kisashi an advantage Maruti should have gone for a pricing closer to the civic.