Maruti has recently launched Suzuki Swift in India, I have seen the car, haven’t had a chance to test drive it yet but here are my first impressions of the Car.

After a long time Maruti has had a Model which has a good response. Most of the other models that they launched hasn’t done so well. Versa, Baleno and Grand Vitara hasn’t created any significant dent in the market and didn’t do so well as the Swift. In fact Maruti has already increased the price of the Swift to take advance of the high demand.

Pros:
Looks good: This is of course a personal choice, some people like the new design while others find it odd.
Latest Model: Maruti has launched a latest model in India. The latest models are seldom launched in India by Automobile companies .
The car is selling well and likely to be successful.
The car has a good pickup.
It uses the esteem engine. Even though this an old engine, it is a well tested engine and is revamped.
Service network of Maruti is well established.

Cons:
Boot space is very limited and the inside space isn’t too great either.
Interiors look very simple.
There is long waiting period to get delivery which could take 5-6 months.
Still a new car, may slow down later or face competition. GM, Honda and Toyota have plans to launch cars in the same segment.

Some more inputs:

I was reading a UK based car magazine – Test Drive. They reviewed 12 cars one of which was Swift. The Swift was rated 3rd. 1st was Honda Jass and 2nd was Mitsubushi Colt.

Both Honda & Mitsubushi had a better mileage as per the review. Mitsubushi still isn’t an established player in India, so may not be a strong competition if the Colt was launched in India. But if Honda launches the Jazz then Swift could have some good competition.

Until then you could settle for Swift, provided you are willing to wait for 6 months for the delivery!

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