Spy Shots: Next-Gen Verona caught in S.Cali

[CaymanS]

GMDAT and Suzuki share alot of components and it seems that the partnership will continue on with these latest shots of what appears to be the Daewoo Tosca with Suzuki badges spotted in Southern California. Suzuki suffered poor sales from its rebadged product of the Daewoo Magnus mid-size sedan, which was introduced for the 2004 model year. Both the Chevrolet Epica sales in Canada and Suzuki Verona sales were discontinued for the 2007 model year.

Last year, GM Daewoo introduced the Tosca, the successor of the Magnus that spawned a different name in South Korea. It was also an in-house design, different to its predecessor which was designed by Giugiaro Designs. Not long after the ceremonious debut, Chevrolet introduced their rebadged variant of the Tosca, consisting of the Epica name. It was intended for European markets only. Nonetheless, it sparked alot of rumours of Suzuki introducing their variant of the Epica and reintroducing it in North America.

[Source: CarSpyShots.net]

Continued- Article, more shots

http://thecarblogger.blogspot.com/20...caught-in.html

I love the new Tosca (Epica). It's great news that it's coming to the US.

[CaymanS]

This should make it to the ticker by the way. It's fantastic news and it's what many of us were anticipating for.

[Butz]

What's taking them so long?

[cdp326]

Originally Posted by Butz

What's taking them so long?

I'm wondering that as well.

IMO the front does have a resemblance to the Suzuki SX4, so it should fit in pretty well.

What engine(s) might it offer when it ever goes on sale here?

[mystikranger]

Wow that car is like two years old. Why is it taking so long to sell it here?

[flashisflamable]

those taillights are hot

[EldoFan]

Am liking this.......esp. from the back......

I think GM is in a position to use Suzuki as a 'first strike' weapon of sorts against the dominant import brands......

With refined product that is (at least) up to Korean standards....and hopefully will continue to improve.....GM could use Suzuki to chip away at Asian dominance while concurrently using Chevrolet, Saturn and to a lesser extent, Pontiac, to back up the assault......

Though that's just me dreaming prolly........

[TJ95GAGT]

Good looking car. Funny that they can put projector headlights in this but the vast majority of GM cars/trucks dont get them.

[slbviper]

I don't like that Toyota is going to profit from this as well. GM needs to buy back Suzuki.

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by Butz

What's taking them so long?

Most likely it's because the Verona sold poorly. Perhaps Suzuki management pondered whether or not a midsize sedan fit into the Suzuki lineup, and at the time decided not to offer the new one, but simply reversed an earlier decision.

[anthom]

The head lights and grill are nice, the back looks like a Saturn L-serries, the rest is outdated and bland, but its about the only small midsize car left. hmmm I guess people who wanna trade in their 97 malibu or Ford Contour now have an option. But dont get me wrong it does seem like a pretty decent car for what it is, and anything bigger just wouldnt be a suzuki now would it? Oh wait its not a Suzuki.

[asim]

Originally Posted by Butz

What's taking them so long?

Who know?! I thought that slapping a new badge on a vehicle and selling it to another market took at much as 6 months. This thing will already be old by the time (if it does) hit the American market.

[benroethig]

Originally Posted by cdp326

I'm wondering that as well.

IMO the front does have a resemblance to the Suzuki SX4, so it should fit in pretty well.

What engine(s) might it offer when it ever goes on sale here?

Rumor has it Suzuki is going to offer either GM's 3.2L or an in-house V6 in addition to the Daewoo designed I-6. Many who test drove the verona thought it was underpowered.

[SonicAerio]

The last topic about Suzuki bringing a midsize sedan to the market noted that the main reason Suzuki couldn't sell lots of Veronas was due to the less then pleasing drivetrain....although smooth..feedback and comments on the past V6 all felt it was underpowered..... Suzuki vowed that for the next midsize Suzuki would control developement on the engine used and the drivetrain....

So who knows...maybe this is exactly like the Epica sold elsewhere and it will be released in the states and will be Suzuki's midsize OR maybe Suzuki found a way to shoehorn a different engine in there like maybe the 3.6 they use in the XL7 OR maybe this is just a stopgap model untill Suzuki can design their own...because the next Epica is going to Epsilon and will be designed almost identical to the chevy midsize sold here to make it a truly global car....

Either way its all up to intreptation....

But I must say...that big "S" fits nicely on the grill and the headlights fall in line with the SX4 making the overall suzuki design cohesive.... I for one would like to see it sold here

[rcracedriver]

Looks like someone is a messy driver... must have been a long drive from michigan.




I've heard stories how Suzuki was not happy with the powertrain in the previous gmdat verona, so they said if they will do a new verona with gmdat they will use a suzuki engine.

Whats good for GM, its a sale, whats bad for GM is that it doesn't count towards US market share.