Let’s play a quiz. Which was India’s first premium hatchback? Which is India’s top selling premium hatchback? Which is India’s most value for money hatchback? I guess the answer for all three is the same, the Maruti Suzuki Swift. Launched in India in 2005, the next generation model came in 2011 and a facelift of the current Swift made its global debut last year. Maruti Suzuki has been long expected to launch the upgraded Swift in India but the company has taken it easy, not rushing the updates for obvious reasons.
The automaker has accumulated a lot of inventory of the existing model and thus the Maruti Swift facelift will only arrive in November. This is a big bummer as the Japanese small car major won’t bring out the facelift in time for the festive season. Still there isn’t much to worry since the facelift of the Swift isn’t any major revision to the car as all the mechanicals remain untouched. The vehicle will continue to employ the 1.2-litre K-Series petrol and 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engines, the latter being the mastermind of Italy’s Fiat.
Maruti Suzuki’s most premium hatchback in India isn’t having as swift a run as before, case in point being immediate deliveries and a good discount being offered on the car. With the facelift, Maruti Suzuki will give the Swift LED daytime running lights next to the fog lamps along with new wheels (both alloys and wheel caps), revised tail lights and minor revisions to the bumpers. The Swift will probably get new colours too but don’t expect white coloured mirrors and roof like on the Jahre special edition. The interior will remain more or less the same but the top-end Z spec trims will get a push button start/stop system and a new touch-screen infotainment system.
Expect a marginal price hike when the new Maruti Swift goes on sale, competing against the new Hyundai i20 (Elite) till the YRA premium hatch comes to the market. The Swift will also compete with the upcoming Tata Bolt while current rivals include the Fiat Punto Evo and Volkswagen Polo. In the month of June, Maruti Suzuki sold 13,632 units of the Swift, a decline in sales resulting in the car moving from third position on the top ten list to fourth.
