By Justin Couture

After weathering the recession better than most car companies thanks to its strong lineup of compact, fuel-efficient vehicles, Suzuki is poised for international growth. It is already one of strongest-selling brands in its home country of Japan, and has made tremendous strides in India, where it is seeing tremendous growth. With a strong foothold in core areas, Suzuki is getting ready to build out its empire and improve its image in existing markets like North American and Europe. It’s doing it with the new Kizashi sports sedan.

Kizashi, which means “something great is coming” in Japanese, is described by Suzuki as a sports sedan, rather than a mid-size sedan. Targets for this car were set unexpectedly high; Suzuki benchmarked the likes of the VW Passat, Acura TSX and Alfa Romeo 159 for dynamics and quality. In order to obtain the results, Suzuki developed an ultra-rigid new platform complete with an aluminum multi-link rear suspension. The layout was then perfected on the Nürburgring, German autobahns, twisties winding around the Swiss Alps and British backcountry roads.

By David Menzies

With the arrival of summer and in honour of that beloved bittersweet beverage, lemonade, from now until fall, we shall present a look back at some of the most memorable lemons of yesteryear on a weekly basis. We’re talking design disasters, marketing misfits, engineering errors and aesthetic abominations.

This week’s candidate: the ill-conceived and poorly-executed Suzuki X-90.

Talk about a segment buster: when the X-90 debuted in 1996, not even Suzuki knew how to classify this oddball automotive runt. Indeed, upon sober second thought, automobile aficionados the world over still wonder: just what the heck was the X-90?

By Justin Couture

Here’s something to get all of you readers out there chatting. AutoPacific, a leading U.S. automotive analytic firm has just released a study with some rather interesting information on the willingness to buy vehicles from India and China (without referencing any specific brands).

Based on data from 30,000 U.S. consumers, AutoPacific says that 11 per cent of customers would buy a car or truck built in India (good for brands such as Mahindra and Tata), and that 15 per cent of customers would consider buying a vehicle from China. For those who might be wondering, the study indicates that most of the people who would consider buying an Indian or a Chinese vehicle tend to already be driving Japanese or Korean-made vehicles as opposed to Detroit Three brands.

By Justin Couture

If you’re a fan of NASCAR, note that there will soon be a new face in the paddocks. Ford has just announced that the redesigned Mustang will be officially competing in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series starting in limited numbers. A greater number of vehicles will be entered the following year once production of these hand-crafted machines ramps up.

Like most other NASCAR racers, the Mustang that will run on the track bears almost no resemblance to the actual vehicle sold in dealerships. Purpose built from the ground up, it has a tubular frame wrapped in an aerodynamic body that’s covered in, er… Mustang stickers.

While these eyes certainly like the shape of the new Mustang that’s currently prowling the streets, something about the Nationwide Series racer looks a little odd. Its nose seems slightly out of proportion and a bit too narrow compared to the rest of the car. At least switching to the Mustang nameplate creates a slightly stronger link to the production car; it marks the first time the production equivalent Ford has been rear-wheel drive since the Thunderbird stopped lapping the tracks in the late ‘90s.

By Justin Couture

When it comes to high-performance vehicles, few brands know the business better than Ferrari. Though its heart lives on the track, it has produced some truly amazing vehicles for the road. For proof, look no further than its “entry level” model, the F430. Even though it sits at the foot of the Ferrari range in terms of cost, it is without question one of the finest cars it’s made, balancing performance and handling that few – whatever the cost – can match. But after a well-lived life, Ferrari felt it was time to introduce a successor, the new 458 Italia.

Likely to make its mark as being one of the brand’s most advanced production cars, it is chock full of technical innovations in everything from its drivetrain, to its bodywork and right down to its electrical aids. The result is a car that isn’t just faster, but one that drives better, and emits fewer emissions.

By David Menzies

So much for taking advantage of any future cash-for-clunkers scheme…

Police on Long Island, N.Y. recently arrested a teenager for uniquely (albeit illegally) expressing disdain for his car. Namely, the dipstick set his 1992 BMW on fire.

Granted, the Bimmer was getting a bit long in the tooth seeing that it was almost as old as its owner, 18-year-old Anthony Rosario. But torching a sporty European imported sedan does seem a tad extreme – especially since 1992 BMWs weren’t equipped with the loathsome iDrive dashboard control system (now, there’s a perfectly valid reason to go out and acquire a flamethrower…)

By Justin Couture

By chance, you might’ve spotted BMW’s advertisements for its new Z4 Roadster which involves artist Robin Rhode, the two-seat drop top, some paint and a very large blank canvas on which the car was driven. The brightly-coloured results were worked well with the brand’s tagline for the car, “An expression of joy.”

Noting that the creativity of art and marketing go hand in hand, Toyota of Europe set out on a project of its own, using a car as the source for inspiration. Its European division commissioned the graphic design firm PleaseLetMeDesign to develop a font that celebrates the iQ’s rather nimble and agile nature.

By David Menzies

I should’ve known better...

Opining about loveable loser cars from yesteryear (the ongoing “Classic Lemon of the Week” blog) I should’ve realized I was setting myself up for a tongue-lashing by the past and present owners of lemons.

Indeed, judging by some of the vitriolic comments, many have taken great offence to Yours Truly disrespecting their cherished chariots.

Although I respect the time-honoured tradition of allowing the reader to have the last word, some clarification is in order.

First, I acknowledge beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. And I suppose love truly is blind. Even so, there’s overwhelming evidence suggesting the vehicles singled out for ridicule are not good cars.

Still, car critiquing makes for risky business. My mind reverses back to high school, wherein busting the chops of friend and foe alike was de rigueur sport, right up there with administering atomic wedgies and purple nurples. But even in those barbarous days, there were a couple of no-fly zones: no one dared make a wisecrack about someone’s mother. Equally taboo: no one dared make fun of another guy’s set of wheels (even though, unlike dear ol’ mom, cars are mass-produced, impersonal hunks of metal, plastic and rubber.)

So the question arises: why do so many people take car criticism personally?

My hunch: Perhaps the owner of a clunker doesn’t want to be reminded he made a purchasing mistake? Or maybe some individuals personify their vehicles to such an extent that criticism of their cars is akin to attacking a family member?

By Justin Couture

There are some pretty crazy bespoke automakers out there, but few are as crazy as Veritas. The German supercar company is on a roll, having just publically unveiled its outlandish-looking RS III (pictured) at the Salon Privé show in London, England.

In and of itself, the roadster is one crazy automobile. With custom hand-made aluminum bodywork, it aims to capture the spirit of ‘30s era Grand Prix racers, but with a modern twist. Under its extra-long hood is a BMW-sourced V10 engine (from the M5 and M6) that can be had in either 500 or 620 horsepower states of tune. Despite lacking a windshield, the company claims that it can reach a top speed of 360 km/h. Its 0-100 km/h time is claimed to take just three seconds flat.

By Justin Couture

Yesterday, we brought you news from Comic-Con, the annual convention for comic book, movie and TV geeks regarding the new Camaro Transformers Edition. It appears that Chevy wasn’t the only one to unveil a car at the conference – yesterday, screenwriter and actor Seth Rogen took the wraps off Black Beauty, his four-wheeled sidekick in the upcoming live-action feature The Green Hornet.

Fans of the original program should be excited to note that the new Black Beauty will once again be a ‘60s era (Chrysler) Imperial sedan. It’s a nice tribute given that one of Chrysler’s biggest and most opulent sedans rarely gets any screen play these days.