Frankfurt motor show 2007 - Suzuki

There's a surprise among the two newcomers on the Suzuki stand at Frankfurt - a concept car that displays the company's first attempt at a Ford Mondeo-sized car.

It appears alongside Splash, the latest small car from a company that specialises in such things.

The concept car is called Kizashi, although the name will probably be changed for the car that goes on sale in European markets.

Kizashi uses an all-new platform and goes into production in 2009.

There'll be no five-door hatch, the preferred bodystyle for UK buyers of this size of car, but there will be an estate.

The car will be mainly aimed at American buyers, as the three petrol engines planned for it - all-new 2.4-litre four-cylinder and 2.7- and 3.7-litre V6s - illustrate.

As a sop to Europeans, there will be another new engine, though – a 2.2-litre turbodiesel, which Suzuki will build at its Hungarian plant.

Splash
Of greater interest to Europeans is Splash, which Suzuki will also build for Vauxhall the next Agila.

Both models have been engineered by Suzuki and differ only in minor details around the nose and tailgate.

They'll be available next spring with three-cylinder 1.0-litre and four-cylinder 1.2-litre Suzuki petrol engines, as well as a 1.3-litre turbodiesel sourced from Fiat.

We'd expect a starting price of around £6500 for the 1.0, depending on how much equipment comes as standard.

As they are based on the platform of the Swift supermini, they should drive well, too.

The Swift remains in production as a sensible, practical choice, while Splash is there to cash in on the growing demand for small, clean, economical cars that look good and are fun to live with.