By Justin Berkowitz
March 27, 2008 - 9,322 Views
In India, Suzuki has over 50 percent of the market share. You might have heard this factoid on Wednesday's podcast, you might have read it during our coverage of the NYC auto show. I've said it for a third time because it really is quite amazing. Part of their sales success is down to Suzuki's extremely well developed small car lineup, anchored by the Swift, which is not on sale in America because Suzuki hates freedom. And import costs, currency fluctuations and low profit margins. (We do have a Swift-related car however, the fun-to-drive SX4 crossover). Back to India, where Maruti Suzuki is taking names and kicking behinds. They've just unveiled a sedan version of the normally attractive Swift hatchback, and it might just be the most awkward car of the year. There are other uglies out there like the Mercedes ML and the MINI Cooper Clubman John Cooper Works. But this might just take the cake for bizarre mass market car [outside of China]. Oh, and as if it wasn't weird enough, they're calling it the "Dzire" and marketing it as "The Heart Car." In sum, ew.
Subscribe to Newsletter21 Responses to “ Ugly New Suzuki Swift Sedan ”
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POWERED
March 27th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Ummm, that style is more popular over there than the hatch… when people have money for just one car, it just makes sense to have a sedan rather than a 5 door.
Ugly and all…
You must also check:
4th and 5th gen Fiesta Sedan… sold in Brazil, Mexico and other markets…
Previous generation Clio with trunk, still sold as Symbol
Peugeot 206 SD
Chevrolet Corsa 4 door
Fiat Siena
etc…
And so on…
All the experiments have different results
March 27th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Ugly or not, the Swift and Swift sedan would have a ready market here in the US (and Canada), especially if Maruti manufactured it specifically for export (with the slightly larger 1.5 litre engine, available automatic, etc).
Small cars are increasingly “in” and Suzuki is a specialist in these. Combine that with the low cost (and NOT Chinese) Indian production, and Suzuki might be on to a winning combination.
It’s not like having a small car in the line-up automatically makes a manufacturer the “low-cheap” marque any more.
Even high priced cars have clear family ties to BMW has the 1 and the Mini, Mercedes has the Smart and the A-Class (though not in the US).
When my area had a Suzuki dealer, I drove an Aerio sedan and the trunk on that little car seemed as large as my wife’s current full sized Sonata. It was very outsized for such a compact car.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:23 am
The all wheel drive SX4 seems to be very popular in rural PA.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Bangle butt + prior-gen Elantra tail lights - a horrid combination.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I like the maruti gypsy. That is a cool little jeep.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:37 am
I didn’t like it the first time, back when it was known as the Nissan Versa Sedan.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Doesn’t look any uglier than a Yaris or Hyundai Accent
Or a 5-Series…
March 27th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Give it a nose job and that could be the next BMW small car. If BMW can get away with selling ugly-butt cars for premium prices then I guess Suzuki is onto something.
BTW, I think it is cool that their website animation shows the car on cobblestones in the rain.
http://www.marutidzire.com/
March 27th, 2008 at 10:19 am
At least from the rear, that thing is not ugly. In fact, I’d say it looks pretty good. Looks much better than the Fit. Much better than any Subaru, or Toyota. Better than some of the Germans. Better than most Volvos. Maybe the front is awful.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
The Swift is still available in Canada, as a hatchback only. It’s sold as the “Swift+”, and is based on the Daewoo Kalos, so it’s the same car as the Chevy Aveo/Pontiac Wave. Gotta love the badge engineering gone wild.