Cars

Suzuki Swift ready for quick arrival

Suzuki Swift
Suzuki Swift Suzuki Swift

SUZUKI'S new Swift goes on sale next month, with prices starting at £10,999 for the five-door-only small car.

That buys an SZ3-badged car, which as standard gets six airbags, air conditioning, a leather steering wheel, DAB radio and Bluetooth, LED daytime running lights and electric front windows.

That model comes with a 1.2-litre petrol engine, with higher trim levels benefiting from Suzuki's excellent 1.0-litre Boosterjet engine.

SZ-T trim adds a a rear-view camera, smartphone connectivity, 16-inch alloy wheels and front fog lamps.

At the top of the range is the SZ5, which gains automatic air conditioning, polished alloys, sat-nav, an advanced forward detection safety, keyless entry and start and rear electric windows.

The SZ5 can also be ordered with a six-speed automatic gearbox.

The outgoing Swift can hardly be called a big car, but the new model is even shorter, albeit by only 10mm.

The wheelbase, however, is longer and, together with more efficient packaging, means the new Swift is more spacious. For example, the boot volume is now 265 litres, up by 54 litres on the old car.

Suzuki has managed to pare even more weight from the Swift thanks to its new lightweight platform.

This on its own is 30kg lighter than the structure of the old car. Together with other weight-saving measures, this enables the new Swift to tip the scales at just 890kg in SZ3 trim - 120kg lighter than the model it replaces.

The SZ-T costs £12,999, an SZ-5 with Suzuki's 'mild hybrid' system £14,499 and an SZ-5 automatic £15,849. The four-wheel-drive SZ-5, which comes with a manual gearbox, is £15,499.

A Sport model will hopefully arrive soon...

Industry analysts CAP reckon the Swift SZ3 will hold 41 per cent of its value over three years and 60,000 miles - a class-leading residual value.

The 1.2-litre 89bhp four-cylinder engine has CO2 emissions of 98g/km and achieves 65.7mpg on the EU combined cycle.

The 1.0-litre three-cylinder Boosterjet turbo makes 110bhp and emits 104g/km of CO2 and in manual form, achieves 61.4mpg.

The mild hybrid version - badged SHVS, 'Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki' - has CO2 emissions of 97g/km.

European market Swifts are now built in Japan - the outgoing model was built in Hungary.