2015 Maruti Suzuki Swift launched at Rs 4.42 lakh (ex-Delhi)
Maruti Suzuki’s operations in the country have always been synonymous with the most Value for Money, the best mileage, bare bones interiors, and not to mention ridiculously cheap maintenance. Thus far, this formula has paid off, putting them ahead of the curve. The monkey wrench came in the form of Hyundai’s new approach to the “Family Car”. Packing their cars with features has elevated them from worth adversary to serious contender.
The premium hatch segment is ground zero, as far the consumer wars are concerned. The Swift, the seasoned veteran, went about unchallenged until of course the i20 came on to the scene. The new 2014 Elite i20 that we tested recently, pulled out every stop as far as features were concerned, so much so that the 75k price gap between the top-spec Swift and i20 seems almost reasonable.
Maruti Suzuki has finally responded, in their typical manner, in a bid to not to be outdone but not making the mistake of overcorrecting. They could have gone all guns blazing and packed their 2015 edition Swift with every feature under the sun, but they chose not to, and that’s what makes them brilliant.
Why? The answer is simplicity. The 2015 swift gets a push button start, new entertainment system, reverse parking sensors and display, and it will also feature electrically retractable rear view mirrors, steering mounted controls for the audio and Bluetooth system, electromagnetic bootlid, and not to mention more plush looking interior material. Despite all that, our little birdies tell us that the new Swift will not be more than 25k dearer than the old one. Maintaining its niche “cheaper than thou” market space, but managing to keep up with the joneses in the features war.
Keeping with the tune, the petrol swift has sacrificed on power (83.1bhp instead of 85.8bhp) but makes a good 9.7 per cent more improvement on each litre (20.4kmpl instead of 18.6kmpl). The diesel 1.3-litre motor will still make the same power, but a few ECU tweaks bring up the fuel efficiency by almost 10 per cent.
Cosmetic upgrades include a redesigned front bumper with a larger air dam and chrome-esque accents for fog lamp housings, and a new honeycomb front grille. The top variant also gets fresh design alloy wheels. There will also be three new paint shades to choose from, violet, red and gray.
Prices for the new 2015 Swift start at Rs 4.42 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the base petrol LXi, going up to Rs 6.95 lakh for the top of the line ZDi diesel.
