With some car companies vacating the small hatchback market and switching to larger electric cars, first-time buyers and downsizers can still rely on Suzuki for an inexpensive small car with a frugal engine.
Where are all the people who own a Fiesta now going to go for a replacement car? Ford doesn’t have one. So maybe those prospective buyers will switch to Opel, Toyota, Dacia or Suzuki who have a very affordable new version of their Swift available. The Swift was recently voted Continental Irish Compact Car of the Year. Back in 2006 the first generation of the Swift was named overall winner of the Irish Car of the Year award.
Last week I had what is best described a warm, somewhat Retro week in a 1.2-litre mild hybrid version of the 4th generation Swift. After driving so many automatic cars, it was strange to sit into a car with a manual gearbox. But, of course, you get used to it after a few minutes.
There were a few other touches about the car that reminded me of the ‘good old days’. You get a proper handbrake and USB charging points rather than the more modern USC chargers. And the radio had FM and AM bands, which meant that I listened to a lot of programmes from the BBC last week.
The BBC reception is a bit noisy around Dublin city, but the reception really improves if you head up the Dublin mountains or when you get beyond Drogheda on the motorway. I’m old enough to remember the BBC Light programme when the BBC reception was much clearer.
You may also remember the dulcet tones of James Alexander Gordon reading the classified football results on BBC’s Saturday evening programme Sports Report, but sadly a few years back the BBC dropped their famous classifieds.
The weather was cold last week and the control to heat the driver’s seat didn’t work very well, i.e. it was too hot. Enough about the radio and the warm seats, what about the car? Well, it’s very neat and so frugal. In the old days you could get a decent amount of petrol with 20 pounds. Well €20 wouldn’t get you very far nowadays, but it will in the Hybrid Swift where the slowest moving item is the fuel gauge. Officially the Swift uses a mere 4.4 litres of unleaded petrol every 100km. Now that’s frugal.
Externally there are only very minor changes and Suzuki say that the Swift’s design is an evolution of the previous version.
Inside, the dash is dominated by a neat nine-inch infotainment screen that sits high on the dash. The new touchscreen has much the same software as that of the latest Suzuki S-Cross. The screen is tilted slightly towards the driver and overall the dashboard has been completely updated.
The interior is not too dark with a good sprinkling of cream and white complimenting the comfortable black seats. And a white roofline also helps to brighten the décor.
In the back seat there is room for three adults, at a squeeze, but it will be much more comfortable with just two back seat passengers. The boot is small, officially only 265 litres of space when the back seat is not folded down. And while there is a space for a spare wheel, there wasn’t one supplied.
I loved it and so did my wife. It’s really a city car and so easy to park. You do get a little bit of road noise on motorways, but the BBC look after that problem!
Suzuki have plans to double down on its commitment to small, petrol-powered cars and have no plans for a big switch to electric cars. So we are okay until 2035 at least.
I wasn’t mad about the colour of my test car, which was officially cool yellow, but my wife said it was more like Lime Green. However, the car is available in much more conservative colours, like red, blue etc.
Prices start at €21,495 and two versions available, Compact and Ultra. Road tax is €170. Definitely a bargain and one that should be attractive to a young person buying their first car or an old-timer like myself who is downsizing.
