The Buyer's Market Car?

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: December 15th, 2008

“It’s cheap – not, perhaps, recession-bustingly so, but under £10,000 ($15k) It has some of the dash and cheek of the Mini, but none of the ubiquity, and is roughly two-thirds of the price. And it’s the future of driving. As a US Government report into the motor industry has stated: ‘The shift in consumer preferences towards smaller, more fuel-efficient passenger cars appears to be permanent.’ (The report said this in 1980, a year after giving Chrysler $1 billion of bail-out money to arrest its spiral towards the plughole. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.)”

Edward Niedermeyer

More by Edward Niedermeyer

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 16 comments

Akitadog on Dec 15, 2008

This really is a good-looking car in person. I saw more than a few in Guatemala the last 2 times I visited, and the Swift Sport looked pretty sharp. For the US, they should follow MINI's lead and turbocharge the 1.6 for the Sport. It'll put Suzuki back on the radar.

Like Reply
Niky on Dec 16, 2008
Question: what does this offer over the Fit, Yaris and Fiesta? The luxury of not having rear seat passengers to poke you in the back with their knees. Simply because they won't fit. But seriously, despite the ridiculously small rear seat (which is probably half the reason why people compare it to the Mini, the other half being the styling) it's a nifty little car. Plastics a bit cheap, but what isn't nowadays, but it looks better inside than a Yaris, drives a million times better, and rides pretty well for a small car. I'd put it on my hot small car list alongside the Fit and the Mini. It's great in 1.5 MT. The 1.6 Sport, with its variable-valve high compression engine with forged pistons makes a faintly ludicrous 125 hp at 7000 rpm (ludicrous because for all the money put into that engine, it should make more)... but it's still quite desirable in a geeky sort of way, and also because it comes on 16" wheels, with a sports suspension and Recaros. Too bad the closest thing to a Swift North American GM-Suzuki gets is the SX4. Which is a big, overweight body stuffed on top of the same basic chassis. And all Chevy gets is the Aveo. Which is basically a pile of dog-crap painted in metallic fruit colors. At least you don't get the Spark (or do you?) Which is ten-year old recycled dog-crap with the crash survivability of a Chinese car.

Like Reply
Reclusive_in_nature on Dec 16, 2008

Good. It'll make my dream of owning a Buick Lacrosse Super, Impala SS, or any performance-oriented-American-brand-V8-powered RWD vehicle that much easier. (Yes I know the Lacrosse and Impala aren't RWD.)

Like Reply
V6 on Dec 16, 2008

The Swift is the top selling small car in my country, due in part to their style but also they are so, so cheap. cheaper than the Holden Barina (Aveo5), several thousand cheaper than the Yaris, Fit(Jazz), Rio, Mazda2 etc. I've rented a Swift 1.5 auto for the weekend once. the auto is not that great, smooth but it upshifts far too early blunting acceleration but the manual version would be a really fun drive. the Mazda2 is more solid/refined with better steering (a Swift weak point), but the Mazda2 being A LOT more expensive the Swift is a worthy choice. Also, despite being cheaper the Swift offers 'no cares' motoring, the dealer pays for all servicing/repairs/tyres for the first 3 years. all the buyer pays for is registration, gas and insurance. their resale is really good as well, 3-4 year old Swifts are selling for 75% of their new price eta - i'm 6'0 and could fit in the backseat behind my driving position. you wouldnt want to be in there for long, but it's adequate for short trips

Like Reply