[Venkatesh]

Few pictures from the media drive.













Link

[Mystic]

My 2 cents. It does not matter if it is 3-cylinder or 4-cylinder as long as it is 4-star rating by Japan NCAP for this 2024 model. Just in case of an unavoidable T-bone crash, one has another day to tell his story. It is a huge leap from 1-star to 4-star for Swift. Safety and Maruti cannot be used in the same sentence as per me until now. Somebody at the top must be thinking right of giving a safety image to Maruti going forward.

[karthis91]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Never thought I would say this - a couple of Hyundais have finally beaten a Maruti in the VFM department (same segment).

Back in 2019, I bought a Grand i10 Sportz. I found it much cheaper than a similarly spec'ed Tiago and Swift.

Although the difference might be that Hyundai had just launched Grand i10 Nios and was offer significant discount (~1L) for the old Grand i10.

[karthis91]

I'm not an expert on positioning, but here is why I think Maruti Suzuki (and Swift) is great in Indian market.

1. Reliability - Not talking about service cost as such, but the ability to find a service center that can fix the job. They have it in nook and corners of the country. You go beyond Tier 2 towns, people will be hesitant to buy a non-maruti vehicle.
2. Mileage over Performance - I feel more people buy Maruti for Mileage rather than the engine performance - Engine is a bonus. Going by recent success, Tata's 3 cylinder is not a big issue. Neither are the scratchy AMTs across all manufacturers. Performance is almost pushed to the back in the budget segment of cars. This must have made MS to go for 3 cylinder engine with higher mileage.
3. Swift as a brand - what does it stand for? While it is viewed as a Peppy engine car with good performance, for many it is just a good Suzuki car that can be trusted without any fuss. The brand recognition is stronger than Baleno in my opinion.

It competes with Baleno on price point, but I guess it is the strongest car in MS Arena segment which has a far reach than the Nexa segment. And I guess MS will not be too worried as long as the customers fight between selecting a Swift and Baleno than another company's car.

I will be largely interested to see if they have indeed improved the safety rating and can get 4 stars. If indeed they get it, I guess the sales numbers will even go up. And it will also signal a new dawn in the Indian car industry.

[TorqueIndia]

Originally Posted by Mystic

My 2 cents. It does not matter if it is 3 cylinder or 4 cylinder as long as it is 4 star rating by Japan NCAP for this 2024 model. Just in case of an unavoidable T bone crash, one has another day to tell his story. It is a huge leap from 1 star to 4 star for Swift. Safety and Maruti cannot be used in the same sentence as per me until now. Somebody at the top must be thinking right of giving a safety image to Maruti going forward.

Actually it's a downgrade from 5 star to 4 star in JNCAP,
Swift scored 5 star in 2017 JNCAP tests.
Now the testing might be tougher or the product itself is diluted or both together.

5 star JNCAP scored 1 or 2 in GNCAP India built unit.

Suzuki Global

This time Maruti has beefed up the standard safety kit in India.

[TorqueAddict007]

Honestly, I would much rather go with the XUV3XO's MX versions over this. Way better engine, a proper automatic option, incomparably better suspension, better features, safer car, way more space at the back. If I was in the market for a relatively cheap petrol automatic, the Swift ZXi plus AMT, would cost me 11.5 lakhs on road in Bengaluru. I could just spend 60k more and get the XUV3XO MX2 Pro AT, the only advantages the Swift has are better fuel economy, and the fact that Maruti ASS is better than Mahindra's.

If I wanted to maintain a one car garage, which is the case for a lot of people, the Swift is not the endearing option it once was. It was supposed to be a super reliable, VFM offering that gave you good space, great mileage and a real bang for your buck. Now, anyone who wants to buy the Swift would rather downsize to the WagonR, or, they'd stretch a bit more and go for a mid variant of a good sub 4m crossover. It's also the price at which it's in direct competition with the Punch and to an extent, the Exter, both of which appeal more due to their micro SUV stance and look.

[coolmel]

Didn't like it one bit. The 6 airbags be damned, we will now get another mass market 3cylinder! Yea it will sell in bucket loads, probably even be no.1 at some point but definitely not a likeable design. I rest my case.

[IC_Morningstar]

Originally Posted by TorqueAddict007

I really dislike how now almost all cars under 15 lakhs have either migrated to 3 pots or are going to migrate to them, compared to 4 pots, chasing barely 1-2 kmpl increases in fuel efficiency.

It was never the fuel efficiency and given with my experience 3 pots need to be ringed a slightly harder than 4 pots which omits any kind of mileage advantages. The main factor is cost of manufacturing as three cylinder engine are significantly cheaper to make and maintain. It saves money for increase profit margin for bot the manufacturer and ASS as I don't expect that servicing cost of new Swift will be any less but definitely will be more.

[neil.jericho]

As a long time forum member, I will admit to being perplexed / bemused / surprised by the waves of negativity towards this latest Swift. For so many years, we have loudly criticized Maruti for letting the Swift become long in the tooth while also lagging behind on the safety front.

Now, Maruti has evolved the styling of the Swift, plonked in its new Z series engine, thrown in 6 airbags (halleluiah!), made mention of 45% high tensile steel in the body shell and we are even talking about the probability of a good BNCAP rating. And yet, most people are unhappy! I simply dont get it.

Anyways, a fellow TBHPian and I got a chance to check out the new Swift and honestly, I think it is going to be another runaway success. The sales lady at the showroom which we visited said that they had a lot of walk-ins yesterday for the launch. Their booking count is at around 25. Another showroom which I drove past twice today, had two cars on display and a whole load of walk-ins.

1. Sooooooooooo much has been said about the styling without people even seeing the car in a showroom. All this chatter about how awful the clamshell design is, will vanish once the car is in front of you. This is a very tasteful evolution of the classic Swift formula.

2. The interior of the car is reassuringly familiar. I like the layout of the dials. There is no telescopic adjustment on any variant of the car.

3. This is the VXI (mid) variant and the gargantuan bezels are on full display. It takes some time to get used to the unusual setup but I suppose that 99.99% of normal Indian families wont mind it one bit.

4. Maruti has spruced up the interiors with interesting design elements...

... while also playing it safe with other.

5. The seats are large-ish but the side bolstering is a bit snug for my 5'11" frame. It doesnt constrict you like that on the i20 N Line but it does give the car a sporty feel.

6. Im sure a lot of TBHPians will be upset about switches which were first seen when the abacus was invented but 100% of regular Indian buyers will not even think about it.

7. Maruti has added decent amounts of insulation to the engine bay.

8. You need to be careful while entering the rear. I brushed my head against the frame while getting into the back seat.

9. Not the largest boot in town but no complaints.

10. Overall, a handsome car from all angles with some nice design elements in the tail section.

[ashuezy]

Swift LXI is 7.43 on road Delhi.

This is too expensive and is not worth the price.
This is what happens when a greedy manufacturer gets too much market share.

[Formula1]

To me, they've clearly modelled this after Mini Cooper.
(Or rather a cross between a Mini Cooper and an A-Star.)

"Fun, zippy, cute, quirky" were probably the terms thrown around. As long as they can show the car going "zippy" in their ads, isn't that all that matters? Nobody cares about the power figures. 1.0L engine is out anyway because of Fronx.

You get a "zippy" car that gives 25kmph. This is the sole purpose of Swift now.

[theAutomaniac]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

As a long time forum member, I will admit to being perplexed / bemused / surprised by the waves of negativity towards this latest Swift.

Yes! Thank you for saying this out loud! The new Swift to me feels absolutely good. It is the same old formula, but with better safety, and a lot more value proposition than it ever had! It is an absolutely good family car and deserves to sell well! By family POV, this is THE BEST Swift ever made.

Yes prices have risen by 25-50k, but now it gets a lot more features than it ever had. Even the VXI gets cool stuff like keyless go!

Also, i don't understand the hate for that Z12 engine! People all over the internet are acting as if Maruti had a V8 on the previous gen Swifts and suddenly replaced it with a diesel from the 90s!
It is just one cylinder less and while I agree that 3 cylinders are not as refined as 4 cylinders, I see nothing wrong with this move! People are gulping thousands of Nexon, Punch, Venue, Sonet, etc, all of which have loud three cylinder engines but they never got half as much criticism as this!
And I agree that the engine produces 82HP instead of 89HP by the previous gen car. BUT, it is just a 7HP difference and it is a commuter car that is purchased by thousands of people who just want to commute from A to B! People need to stop overreacting without experiencing the engine!

As someone who owns a K12 for 9 years, I have no issue with a smaller engine. The K12 is a GREAT engine by segment standards, but is still a regular commuter engine. My stand is, and was always that the Swift needs a Boosterjet to regain that driver's-favorite crown. The world has moved on to faster engines and unless they give this car the same, I don't care whatever they do with the 1.2L engine! It was always a commuter engine for me, and was always the weakest point of the Swift, from the enthusiast POV.

At this point, it just feels like people deliberately find excuses to criticize Marutis! Nobody has experienced the new car and yet there are a lot of self-proclaimed experts who are criticizing the car as if they have been living with it for decades!

And no, I am not attacking anybody on this forum specifically. This is the generic disappointing environment these days all over the internet! Everybody wants to be a car guru when nobody has even sat in one yet!

[keroo1099]

One of the strange details that I managed to catch yesterday was the sump guard or whatever it's supposed to be made up of a really thin material, not even plastic.

The other was it's really tough to spot the brake lights in bright sunlight and the gap of the clamshell hood looks weird.

[theabstractmind]

The car runs purely on name. The first gen Swift was worthy of all the accolades with its uniqueness, handling. I personally felt Ritz was a better car for the family, then. Yet, it was good. The one thing I never liked, rather hated the Marutis was that the steering wouldn't self-center. The second gen became a bit of softer handler, losing its tautness. The less said about the toyish build of the previous version, the better. But, it will sell. "Bas, naam hi kaafi hai".

[ZenMaster]

Originally Posted by keroo1099

One of the strange details that I managed to catch yesterday was the sump guard or whatever it's supposed to be made up of a really thin material, not even plastic.

That's not a sump guard. Its most probably an underbody cladding meant to improve the aerodynamics of the vehicle to eek out that extra 0.5kmpl of mileage.

Most modern cars have these underbody covering to reduce drag by promoting smooth underbody airflow.