Suzuki reveals Kizashi turbo and green

The petrol-electric tease, which has little chance of going into production, is part of a Kizashi double-act that also unleashes a turbocharged Apex concept with 225 kiloWatts to feed its all-wheel drive system.

Suzuki is keen to get more airplay for the Kizashi and the American concept cars are the latest effort, tapping opposite ends of the performance spectrum.

The Hybrid uses an EcoCharge system with a smaller 2.0-litre engine and a 15-kiloWatt electric motor, with a lithium-ion battery to juice the system for extra acceleration. It's similar to the e-assist system used in the Buick LaCrosse and take an approach like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic.

There is also a stop-start system and Suzuki claims a 25 per cent fuel economy improvement, while the visual tweaking for New York includes blue-tinged white bodywork, lightweight alloy wheels, special headlamps, blue lighting on the number plate and LED foglamps.

It's ironic that The EcoCharge Kizashi is unveiled as Suzuki is pursuing powerplant choices with its new minority partner, Volkswagen.

But Suzuki plans real-world tests and is not ruling out a production version.

The Apex turbo is a different deal and, like the Australian-made Kizashi Turbo shown at the Australian International Motor Show last year, is a headliner intended to prove the car can cope with far more than its standard 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine.

It's the second time Suzuki has gone for a turbocharged concept car, but this time it is aiming to eliminate the shortcomings of the RRM package - also used on the Australian show car - with bodywork that's inspired by Suzuki's GSX-R racing motorcycles.