Team-BHP - 2014 Suzuki Swift Facelift Revealed

Facelift ? I am seeing this face for nearly a decade, looks like Suzuki does not have a strong product pipeline, they are just doing some minor sticker jobs to its star models to keep its cash register ringing.
As Indian market matures Suzuki will have a hard time competing, no wonder Suzuki declared itself bankrupt in competitive market like US.

It is really funny that Maruti calls this as a facelift.

IMHO, the LED parking lamps are look best on cars like Audi. Care like Swift, i20, XUV500 just don't have the personality to carry it off. Looks cheap and aftermarket.

And yeah, expect for a price increase of at least 25-30K.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loud (Post 3152831)

Maruti calls it a facelift? lol:

IMO, I would buy a Swift with my eyes closed IF Maruti makes the following changes to the Swift:

1. Liberate more room for rear passengers by either increasing vehicle length or scooping out front seats

2. Increase the size of the rear windows and make the doors and windows looks proportionate.

3. Try reducing the long nose and compensate the space extracted for the boot and bring it to ~240-250 Liters.

4. Keep the mechanicals same, with the engine much refined and tuned for efficiency.

5. Do reduce the size of the rear bumper and make the loading bay a bit more acceptable.

6. Provide atleast 4 speakers (if not HU) in the mid-variants.

7. Add an option of grey interiors (if not beige) with black to make the car more family-centric.

8. Other cosmetic changes it can do (like DRLs, ORVMs with indicators, spoiler, etc.) within a price increase of around ~20-40k.

Hope Maruti is listening...The time to replace my Alto is due within next year!

Most of the above points are available in a car called Swift "Dzire" :D.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anand123 (Post 3153252)

Did the previous gen Swift really have a facelift?? I don't remember seeing any. What were the changes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by salilpawar1 (Post 3153314)

Front bumper was changed, alloy wheels / wheel caps design changed and clear lens tail lamps. Everything else remained more or less the same.

Changes in 2008 Swift that I remember:

Modified front and rear bumpers
Modified tail lamps
White illumination in speedo console instead of orange
Double horn instead of single horn
Integrated audio system and steering mounted audio controls in ZXi
8-spoke alloy instead of 7-spoke alloy for ZXi
5-spoke wheel cap instead of 6-spoke in VXi/VDi
Front grill had some minor change to the honeycomb design.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar (Post 3153579)

And yeah, expect for a price increase of at least 25-30K.

A price increase of 25-30k would not do justice to the additions we will get. A new bumper with DRLs and some dashboard backlight change doesn't account for an increase of 30k.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar (Post 3153579)

Most of the above points are available in a car called Swift "Dzire".

I have written clearly that 'I would buy a Swift with my eyes closed IF Maruti makes the following changes to the Swift' and not hand me a DZire or Ertiga or some other car. So, :D!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loud (Post 3153976)

A price increase of 25-30k would not do justice to the additions we will get. A new bumper with DRLs and some dashboard backlight change doesn't account for an increase of 30k.

I have written clearly that 'I would buy a Swift with my eyes closed IF Maruti makes the following changes to the Swift' and not hand me a DZire or Ertiga or some other car. So, :D!

Well said Loud. I do not think that with the current market situation they would be looking at a price increase. The only thing that they would probably do is discontinue the discounts for a while during the launch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabnawaz_b (Post 3154210)

Maruthi should also introduce Ertiga's 1.4L engine into this new Swift facelift and give it as an optional pack please:

The only other engine option that could come on the swift is the 1.6 L option available on the Swift Sport, available in a lot of markets. I see no chance of that car making it to the Indian shores any time soon. :)

I think we are reading too much into this update. Some of the updates (e.g.; sat-nav) for the European models may not carried over to India. I am not sure if slight visual tweaks like LED strips, new colours, wheels etc. will warrant a price increase. Other updates – AWD option, and a 5-door Swift Sport 1.6, both not relevant for India at this moment.

Considering the fact that the Polo GT TSI has garnered some interest among the buyers, they can actually think of bringing the Swift Sport to India (in a price range around 9-10 lakhs).

I do not consider this as a face lift from any angle. It looks exactly the same as it is now on Indian roads. Nothing looks visibly significant from any angle, and one has to strain the eyes to see those DRLs attached.

Nevertheless, a very good machine in Suzuki's hatch portfolio. :-)

I do like that shade!

The rest is unworthy of a facelift tag, for sure.
Personally, I am quite a fan of the sharp white illumination on the speedo console on the present swift. Blue would be ok, but somehow white on a black background, on a black dash looks smashing to me.

Don't really care too much about the DRLs. Especially when they make the car look like an i20 (no offense).
And the brightness of the i20 DRLs is to keep it in line with the required brightness as per the Euro - rules. Expect these ones to be as bright.

As far as I know, the European rules need the car to have DRLs OR the car must have headlamps on even during daytime - this applies to the motorways for sure, may not apply to the city roads.

Cheers,
Sam

Instead of the blue lighting inside i would prefer the white lighting of the old swift, its less sporty but more pleasing to the eye. Eventhough Blue lighting looks cool I find it tiring compared to Amber/Orange/Green console lighting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabnawaz_b (Post 3154247)

@Baddychat, 1.6 Engine in India means no excise benefit.
So the only option that India Swift sport can have is 1.4.

No excise benefit for the 1.4 petrol either, so if they come out with a Sport it makes sense to give the 1.6 only.

Almost all the hardware required for the Swift Sport is already in India, except the three door shell, and Maruti I don't mind a 4 door sport :)

But why do they want to wait till 2014 to release this facelift ?! Are they going to test these cars with LED DRLs added :)

And does these minor changes require a motor show for introduction?! OP says this facelift is making its global debut in 2013 Frankfurt Motor show.:Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loud (Post 3153976)

I have written clearly that 'I would buy a Swift with my eyes closed IF Maruti makes the following changes to the Swift' and not hand me a DZire or Ertiga or some other car. So, :D!

Whatever changes you wanted is old news to Maruti. Customer feedback is what prompted maruti to incorporate them in the Swift and they ended up with a product that looks like that, i.e Dzire.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tj123 (Post 3153380)

In some markets, every year car manufacturers introduce a new model. The differences between models may be the shape of the bonnet, headlamps, or tail lamps, but it does look like an actual change in design. I'm surprised manufacturers haven't done this in India considering how much competition they have from other manufacturers.