A triangle theme is repeated from headlamps to profile to taillamps. The liftgate has a black painted area below the rear window that makes lighter colored SXs easy to identify from a distance, emphasizing its unusual shape.

The profile does create an illusion, however, that makes even the 15-inch wheels look small. Suzuki broke up the large slab sides with cladding around the wheel arches, the rocker panels and the bottom of the doors, plus little dents in the front and rear bumpers. The side marker lights look like they were borrowed from a trucker's supply store and tacked on rather than integrated into the design, no doubt because this car is sold in markets around the world with differing lighting standards.

The SX comes ready for a roof rack: slide off the four little caps to expose mounting loops for dealer accessory roof racks. That could come in handy for skiers and mountain bikers. The Aerios we saw were all preproduction models, produced prior to regular production began, and had considerable orange peel in the paint.

Overall, it's a love-it-or-hate-it design, and will be viewed as either fresh, innovative and out-of-this word-or something from the outer limits.

The Suzuki Aerio is also available in a traditional sedan body style. In this regard, Suzuki follows the trend set by the Toyota Matrix, Ford Focus ZX5, and Mazda Protege5, all of which are offered in sedan versions (the Matrix sedan is called a Corolla). As such, the base Aerio S and GS share the distinctive front end styling of the SX but have a conventional trunk. Suzuki anticipates two-thirds of Aerios sold to be sedans, but we'll concentrate on the crossover SX just because it's different.

The Aerio SX is short. Unlike the Ford Focus models, which are all exactly the same length, the Aerio SX is 5 inches shorter than the Aerio S and GS sedans. The SX is an inch shorter than the Focus and 5 inches shorter than the Toyota Matrix. This makes the Aerio easy to fit into short parking places.