Comments on: Ugly New Suzuki Swift Sedan

By: Steven Lang

Steven Lang — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:57:44 +0000

Nah, I don’t see this as particularly bad.

Ford Focus, Subaru Tribeca, a late 90’s Taurus or Suzuki Aerio and the new Scion Xb are are truly horrid designs. This is really just a different shade of bland with a pretty nice design for the dashboard and steering wheel.

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:45:00 +0000

I took another look at the picture up top. It’s no classic American car, and I take it back–it’s not superior to most volvos or most German cars, but it’s not offending me.

By: aakash

aakash — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:49:42 +0000

Slapping a boot to a perfectly good looking hatchback does not a sedan make!

Mini + boot anyone?

No wonder this is one hell of an ugly car.

By: menno

menno — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:59:53 +0000

You beat me to it, Paul. The SX4 is a shared platform with Fiat (done when GM owned more of Suzuki than the pittance 3% and when GM had promised to buy Fiat – then backed out).

You’re right. The Canadian Swift + is NOT a real Suzuki. It’s a rebadged GMDaewoo, as is the Aveo.

By: Paul Niedermeyer

Paul Niedermeyer — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:36:38 +0000

The SX4 is on a bigger platform than the Swift. And the Canadian “Swift” is an Aveo, and has no actual relationship to the real Swift, except in name.

By: Bancho

Bancho — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:21:50 +0000

Nemphre :

That’s the car we really need. Small cars as sedans are a lot less functional than hatchbacks.

By: Axel

Axel — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:21:33 +0000

It looks like the love child of a Hyundai and a Saab.

By: Nemphre

Nemphre — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:07:32 +0000

The Swift hatchback on the other hand is a really nice looking car:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SuzukiSwiftSport.JPG

Too bad we don’t get it over here.

By: Johnson

Johnson — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:55:32 +0000

DZire? You’ve got to be kidding me. What next, the Suzuki Kar?

By: Carzzi

Carzzi — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:40:01 +0000

I was wondering why that derrière looked familiar, when I saw it reported on Autoblog. Then it struck me this morning, while in traffic behind a new Nissan Sentra and beside a Nissan Versa.

By: Bancho

Bancho — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:10:03 +0000

Compared to the hatchback Swift that thing is pretty hideous.

By: brettc

brettc — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:29:18 +0000

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.

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:19:52 +0000

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.

By: jthorner

jthorner — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:08:37 +0000

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/

By: thetopdog

thetopdog — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:40:37 +0000

Doesn’t look any uglier than a Yaris or Hyundai Accent

Or a 5-Series…

By: Buick61

Buick61 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:37:55 +0000

I didn’t like it the first time, back when it was known as the Nissan Versa Sedan.

By: dolo54

dolo54 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:07:57 +0000

I like the maruti gypsy. That is a cool little jeep.

By: starlightmica (Richard Chen)

starlightmica (Richard Chen) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:03:45 +0000

Bangle butt + prior-gen Elantra tail lights – a horrid combination.

By: Donal Fagan

Donal Fagan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:23:16 +0000

The all wheel drive SX4 seems to be very popular in rural PA.

By: menno

menno — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:18:23 +0000

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.

By: Stingray

Stingray — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:03:28 +0000

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