Competent but most probably short-lived

One of the brightest stars of the recent Auto Expo was a very attractive new Swift hatchback. This was the third major design upgrade since the Swift was first launched in 2004. It has been a consistent best seller with the result that it had to constantly reinvent itself to keep ahead of fierce competition from a number of excellent cars like the Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz, Ford Figo, Tata Tiago, Toyota Etios Liva,

Fiat Punto, Nissan Micra and Volkswagen Polo.

It has to be acknowledged that the design teams in Japan and India have done a superb job to make the rather chunky look of the outgoing modern appear much sleeker and slimmer. The view from the front is most dramatic where a deep black crease under the big black front grille makes it look as if a slimmer grill is inside

another grille. The wide horizontal lines of this black grille are also textured with a shallow ridge on either side. The headlights on either side are now slinkier and offer projector lamps for better illumination and are highlighted by a line of daylight running lights (DRLs) below it like an

illuminated string of pearls. From the side however the profile is unmistakably Swift except for the absence of a rear door handle at its usual place. It has now been moved up to shoulder height behind the rear window to make the car look like a sporty 3-door hatchback. A body coloured bump next to this handle on the rear `C’ pillar also adds an interesting touch.

The interiors are also an improvement with a bit more legroom and hip room in a slightly longer and wider car. The uniform black of the interiors is smart but a bit severe but the colours are fortunately relieved by chrome touches on the steering, instruments and dashboard that has a large touch screen for all infotainment, rear camera and vehicle data. Needless to say all the usual gadgets like USB, Bluetooth, satellite navigation, voice commands, keyless entry, push button starting, automatic climate control, automatic wipers, et cetera are available.

This new Swift is powered by the well tried 1,200-cc petrol and 1,250-cc diesel engines but these will feel a bit more peppy because the overall weight of the car has been reduced by a huge 85-kg — the weight of a large passenger. This will undoubtedly improve acceleration and fuel consumption and also the car’s overall ride, handling and steering response. The trusty 5-speed manual and 5-speed AMT gearboxes continue but the automatic is for some reason not on the top model. There is not much change on the safety front that continues with front seat airbags on the top models and front disc brakes with ABS and EDB. Electric steering is now standard on most Maruti cars and makes driving easy but not very exciting.

After the success of the new DZire small saloon a new Swift hatchback was clearly expected and these segments are so intensely competitive that their successes will probably be short lived. But future

competition will not only come from similar models but probably from hybrids too.

Because of the high cost of the imported battery packs and motors mild hybrids will probably come first and though these will also be quite expensive they will be attractive because of the huge boost it gives to fuel consumption.

The author is the region’s most celebrated automobile columnist