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| Get a Swift hug from those bucket seats up front. |
SUZUKI has many a proud boast it can make about its popular Swift
hatchback, but the company is strangely silent about its strongest feature — the
bucket seats up front.
All too often, manufacturers get bucket seats wrong, making them
only for the hips of petite race drivers and jockeys, or using wire to shape the
seats — which saves on cost, but acts like a torniquet on a driver’s
thighs.
Not so in the Swift, which Suzuki says epitomises the company’s
“acknowledged expertise in the design, development and production of compact
cars”.
Having now been gently hugged in the Swift’s bucket seats for a
week, I must agree about this epitomy. This really is one very good hatch. All
the buttons fall to hand, the engine uses clever electronics to make more power
up hill so that you don’t have to change down and the handling get progressively
more fun.
The only niggle I found — and this is true for all the Suzies, is
the telematics, which dates back to when the first models launched in 2004.
Evne our resident techies had to read the handbook to pair a phone.
I managed to do so in the SX4, but failed in the Swift. In an era where cars
sell on their USB ports and Bluetooth connectivity, both Suzuki and Honda need
to take a page out of Toyota’s book, which company has a system than can pair
most phones in three clicks.
Not that telematics have hurt the Swift’s sales any, which now
amount to over four million units in the nine years since its debut.
Suzuki and its Indian subsidiary, Maruti were also the world’s two
fastest growing brands in June this year, compared to 2013 levels, with both
brands improving sales by more than 20%.
The Indian market alone accounts for about half of total global
Swift sales. This is doubly impressive if you bear in mind that Indian buyers
typically spend weeks comparing value for money offerings and a car’s real cents
per kilometre running cost before deciding on a brand.
The Swift’s popularity isn’t just demonstrated by its sales
figures: the compact hatch also boasts an impressive array of awards and
accolades. It was the RJC Car of the Year in Japan in 2006 and 2010, while
Australia’s top motoring website has named it as one of the country’s best first
cars for the third year running. The Swift was also finalist in the 2009 South
African Car Of The Year contest, with almost 10 000 people now driving a Swift
locally. Suzuki Auto SA’s national marketing manager Francois van Eeden, said
the Swift is a key contributor to Suzuki’s ongoing and growing success in South
Africa.
“It’s global popularity is also reflected in the local demand for
the hatchback, where it is attracting discerning buyers seeking quality,
efficiency and dynamic appeal in a package that expresses excellent value,
too.”
Six models are on sale locally, starting at R126 900 and going up
to about R230k. “About” for the current slump in car sales means your local
Suzuki dealer is ready and willing to talk turkey to ensure you also get to know
what it feels like to be hugged in a Suzie.
