The Hindu Business Line : Swift in race with Getz

QUICK, think of a manufacturer most likely to launch a globally acceptable, dream small car for the masses in India. A car that is technologically superior, feature rich, performance oriented and yet fuel-efficient. If we had posed that question before the Suzuki Swift was launched and you short-listed the probables, Maruti may have come down the list.

A perky little car has changed all that. The prevailing perception about Maruti as a laidback, oligopolist has suddenly been turned on its head. It is now getting the reputation of a fighter, at least in its marketing and product strategy (read accompanying article on its more aggressive marketing approach). Maruti has reacted to aggression in the past but, now, all too swiftly, it has turned aggressor.

At the centre of all that cyclonic change sits the Suzuki Swift with a smirk on its pretty face. For Maruti, the returns from the Swift have been quite handsome; most importantly, the change in consumer perception about the company.

Here is a company known to produce cars that are fuel-efficient, competitively priced and easy to maintain. But at various points in time in the past, customers could have been excused for getting the feeling that the Maruti car that he was buying was a notch lower in terms of technology or refinement and a laggard in the excitement index.

But all this was over-shadowed by the value-for-money proposition the Maruti cars represented.

A Maruti-plus product

The Swift is not only loaded with all that Maruti has always been known for, but also offers dollops of style, classy interiors and compelling performance.

The Suzuki Swift is quite unlike any from the Maruti stable. No wonder it has stirred up passions in the car industry and kicked up an unprecedented level of hype in favour of Maruti.

Its international and likeable looks appeals Swift`ly'; this also should take the fight in the premium hatch category to a new high. The obvious target for the Swift is the Hyundai Getz, no mean competition either.

The Swift looks radical, almost naughty. Its overall design theme appears to be a brilliant fusion of opposites that appeals from the first look.

The rounded, jellybean-like lower half and the almost `boxy' top-half have drawn comparisons to the BMW Mini (a model that is not available in India). Like the Mini, the Swift's A-pillar arms and midline have also been blacked out to give the car a floating roof look — an ocular illusion.

The Swift's design gives it a squat profile, just like the Getz's. However, unlike the Hyundai car, the Suzuki offering appears oversized in places, though you just cannot pinpoint any of them.

Hyundai is known for a bit of over-designing and Maruti for conservativeness. But with the Swift and the Getz, that seems to have changed.

The Swift's `squarish', tending to be vertical, peeled back headlamps and the oversized air dam give it distinctive looks in front.

The thick shoulder line gives the Swift prominent jowls, running from the front bumper and rising gradually towards the back where it ends into the extra-large rear bumper.

The wheel flares merge in with this muscular flank and the unique tail lamps start well before the shoulder line begins to slope down at the rear. The wrap-around style tail lamps look like the Nissan Murano's and add to the Swift's signature style.

Stylish features, but...

However, there are a few issues that the Swift's design raises and which represent an inevitable trade-off between styling and practicality. The car's roofline starts forward and slopes gradually downward towards the rear, the A-pillar arms rise steeply at the front and the high-set shoulder line, are all features that reduce considerably the car's glass area. The thick C-pillar panels give the Swift an attractive side profile but also cut into the rear glass, further reducing the amount of light coming into the car.

The windscreen and the rear glass are smaller than other cars in the segment and the high flanks reduce visibility at the sides for passengers. For the driver though, the oversized outside rear view mirrors — they are even bigger than those of most sedans — offer enough view of the sides and the rear.

The oversized mirrors may pose other challenges such as the risk of being knocked off by other vehicles on the crowded city roads.

Getz vs Swift on features

Unlike the Swift, the Getz's design has simpler straight lines and a larger glass area. And though it too has a prominent shoulder line, since it is set low, the Getz's interior feels more ventilated.

Another comparative issue is the colour theme for the Swift's interiors. The black and dark grey combinations are obviously to ensure easy maintenance, but this makes the interior appear even more dark and cloistered.

The story of the Swift is really in the exteriors and performance. On the contrary, the Getz's story is in its interiors. The Swift's wheelbase is narrower than the Getz's and though its overall width is more, its interior space just cannot match the Hyundai hatch's.

Similarly, though the Swift's track is 10 mm more at the rear and the Getz's 10 mm lesser at the rear compared to their respective front tracks, rear seat shoulder space and legroom in the Getz is clearly more than the Swift's.

The Getz's legroom in the rear continues to be unmatched. But most cars in the segment are more likely to be owner driven and the legroom factor may not be too important.

Between the two premium hatches, the interior trim quality, seat comfort and material quality are pretty much neck andneck.

The dashboard plastic and instrument layout in the Swift is tad better than those in the Getz, though the latter offers more practical storage options.

The Getz's driver side foot-well is more spacious than the Swift's. After the tacky interiors of other Maruti cars, the Swift looks like a big leap forward.

Another similarity between the Getz and the Swift would be the suspension set-up. Both the cars feature independent MacPherson struts in the front.

In the Swift, the MacPherson strut in front attaches the suspension lower arms, steering, gearbox and rear engine mounting to a suspension sub-frame, not the body, and so manages to raise the level of comfort and handling characteristics.

At the rear, the Swift features a new torsion beam and coil spring set-up, compared to the Getz's gas dampers. (Read the accompanying story on comparative engine performance of the two cars.)

A clearer value proposition

Both Hyundai and Maruti have always got their pricing strategies right. With a good feel of the market pulse, both the companies have been offering products that represent excellent value for money.

However, despite the attractive pricing, in the case of the Getz, Hyundai found that buyers could not discern the car's value proposition with its price tag of close to Rs 5 lakh. Maruti is unlikely to be faced with that predicament with the Swift.

The pricing of the base variant at below Rs 4 lakh and the superior features in the upper model will ensure that customers make the connect between value and price and choose the Swift even ahead of an entry-level sedan.

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