Maruti’s Swift has been a runaway success since its launch in 2005 and is indeed one of the best sold small cars in the country today. It gained a diesel in 2007, and got several updates through 2010 to 2018, when the third generation was introduced. Now in 2024, the Swift gains its fourth generation, wherein the car has undergone major changes.
On the exterior, a new grille design complements the new front air dam and revised look. Top models get full LED headlamps and a large, inverted L type DRL. One thing we absolutely disliked in the earlier version was the rear door handle on the upper part of the door, giving it a faux coupe look. Thankfully, the new car has its rear door handle back in the right position!
Coming to the inside, we see the bigger changes. The interior is brand spanking new. The design is refreshing and all black – something that makes the interior look smaller and resultantly claustrophobic. You do get a nine-inch info media screen, like Maruti’s other products and it is quite a pleasure to use, showing all the desired information you require.
You do get wireless CarPlay and AndroidAuto, quite a boon in conjunction with the qi wireless phone charger in top models. Interestingly, the sound quality of the Arkamys tuned music system is very impressive.
The instrumentation is also quite clear and legible in the new Swift and thank heavens for the fact that they have not gone all digital and analogue clocks are present. But there is an oddity here – the speedometer does not have a chrome ring around it, unlike the tachometer – why Maruti, why? Is this a precursor to making the speedometer digital? We will have to wait for the next facelift/iteration of this model to find out.
The engine has now been totally changed due to ever tightening emission norms, and is now a three pot 1,197cc affair. This develops around 80 horses and 112 Nm of torque, which is lower than the earlier four cylinder. The company claims that fuel efficiency has improved to 24.8 km/l for the 5-speed manual and 25.7 km/l for the automated manual tranny. Of course, we have not tested this claim but can safely say that around 20 km/l looks to be a safe bet. The clutch on the manual is a joy to use, but the AMT (which Maruti calls AGS) has improved a lot from its earlier versions, but…
Safety is now a major thing with Maruti, and the new Swift comes with six airbags as standard besides other features like ISOFIX child seat connectors in the back seat. The new Swift is value for money and all these new features have made it sleeker, classier and worth every dime.
Priced from INR 6.49 to 9.64 lakhs, ex-showroom.