Latest Auto News Blog: REPORT: Suzuki's Kizashi program stillborn

Click above for a high-res gallery of the (apparently D.O.A.) Suzuki Kizashi

We're going to have to get used to feigning shock when new models are scrapped seemingly just weeks away from production. If the reports are true, Suzuki's long-awaited Kizashi sedan is to be the latest victim in this growing syndrome. We've already seen a number of prototypes running around in what looks like full-production sheetmetal, but now we're hearing that the car's 2010 launch may have been scuttled wholesale - yet another victim of the deteriorating global economy.

Over the last year, Suzuki has made some very public overtures to the family sedan segment with its lauded string of Kizashi concept cars, but warning signs for the model's viability began to emerge in September when Suzuki CEO Osamu Suzuki hinted to Reuters that the car could still be nixed.

In North America, at least, Suzuki has yet to kick its reputation as the redheaded stepchild of Asia's automakers (an unfortunate mantle it inherited when Isuzu pulled out of the passenger car market), despite building some compelling products like the SX4 Crossover. If reports of the Kizashi's death are true, we can't see Suzuki climbing off the bottom rung anytime soon.

Gallery: Spy Shots: Suzuki Kizashi in Germany