Kizashi to return to Super Bowl in new ad from Suzuki [w/video]

Suzuki is about as small as automakers get here in the North America, even if its parent company does mad business in Japan and other parts of the world. So when the scrappy purveyor of the SX4 and Grand Vitara says it will again be ponying up for Super Bowl ads featuring its Kizashi mid-size sedan, it raises some eyebrows, including ours.

Super Bowl ads are notoriously expensive, and Suzuki sold just 32,244 vehicles in the North America in 2011. Based on last year's $2.8-$3 million ad cost estimates, that would be over $100 per vehicle. But Suzuki's 2011 ads only aired in 14 targeted markets, presumably bringing the cost down substantially. We've seen some reports pegging its Super Bowl budget last year at $2 million, which still works out to $75 per Suzuki sold. For comparison, Chevrolet spent an estimated $15 million (five spots) on the 2011 Super Bowl, and sold 1,775,812 vehicles in the U.S. alone, which works out to about $8.45 per car.

Suzuki sent us the teaser image above, which looks like it will continue the snow theme of last year's "Wicked Weather" ad, which featured evil snowmen chasing an all-wheel-drive Kizashi. If you missed it because you don't live in the snow belt, we've got the long version embedded after the jump.