I occasionally scour the internet's Japanese sites on the Kizashi to see what the Japanese Domestic Market and Kizashi's production situation is like.
I found a few Japanese articles on the Kizashi and translated them to read what they were saying, especially related to any hints of its future.
There isn't much info, but here are some things I read:
1) Production is now at order-made status for the JDM. Given Suzuki's exodus from North America, production of the Kizashi even in its one and only plant is now at a minimum. For the JDM, the car is order-made and only about 10 cars are being ordered a month.
2) The Japanese National Police bought over a 1000 of them for use as unmarked police cars. This coincides with Suzuki's apparent new treatment of the Kizashi as a fleet vehicle since it failed to sell well to private consumers anywhere. This all makes sense given my recent post of how Kizashis are popping up in Japan as unmarked police cars.
3) Given how rare the Kizashi is in Japan, its use as an unmarked police car/detective car is met with ridicule by some people. They are like, "Oh, thanks for choosing the Kizashi because they are so unpopular, when we see one, we'll know it's a cop car!"
4) Suzuki has already recalled many of these police duty Kizashis. There was apparently a defective design with the police siren. It collected water which lead to the siren failing. The countermeasure was to have holes in critical areas so water was evacuated. This sounds eerily similar to the rear shock bump stopper issue.
5) The Kizashi may survive for now as a fleet vehicle for the Japanese police.
Updates on the Kizashi from the JDM
KuroNekko wrote:3) Given how rare the Kizashi is in Japan, its use as an unmarked police car/detective car is met with ridicule by some people. They are like, "Oh, thanks for choosing the Kizashi because they are so unpopular, when we see one, we'll know it's a cop car!"
