After nearly a decade of running, Swift going strong

It was not the first premium hatchback to be launched in India but has emerged the most successful to date.

Maruti Suzuki launched the Swift in 2005, a good four years after the Fiat Palio. The Hyundai Getz debuted a year earlier. Yet, it is the Swift that has endured over the last nine years and it seemed only appropriate for Suzuki Motor Corporation to announce last week that the car had recorded cumulative sales of four million units. This was precisely nine years and nine months since the start of sales in 2004.

According to Suzuki, the Swift reflects the company’s expertise in compact cars and dedication to creating models that are sporty, stylish, and fun to drive. It was first produced and sold in Japan as a world strategic model in November 2004. In the following year, production and distribution began in Hungary, India and China. Full-model change was made in 2010, and production and distribution also began in Thailand in March 2012.

In particular, the Swift has had a spectacular success story in India where it steadily increased sales and saw addition of diesel variants and sedans (the Dzire). Of the four million units, sales in India account for approximately half of them with monthly numbers averaging over 15,000 units. Europe took up nearly 19 per cent while 11 per cent of its sales came from Japan. The Swift is now produced in eight countries worldwide including Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.

For a company whose bread-and-butter business in India was essentially from the A-segment comprising the 800 and Alto, the Swift was a big step forward for Maruti. It may not have had the first mover advantage of the Palio (which took off with a bang but fizzled out subsequently) but had all the ingredients in place right from styling and design to a competitive price. Further, the company’s incredible strength in sales and service was enough to convince the customer that he was in for a reliable association.

During the time diesel hysteria gripped the nation, sales of the Swift soared to an extent that its petrol sibling could hardly keep pace. However, gradual price hikes in diesel resulted in a fall in demand with customers reposing their faith in petrol all over again.

The premium hatchback (or B plus) segment soon saw a slew of other models make an entry into the market at price points of ₹4.5-7 lakh. The list included the Ford Figo, Toyota Etios, Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai i20, Nissan Micra and, more recently, the all-new Fiat Punto.

It was also getting increasingly apparent that the market was slowly shifting preferences to this product category even while the Alto dominated in the A-segment (upwards of ₹2.5 lakh). Likewise, the B-segment, priced from ₹3.5-5 lakh) continued to chug merrily along with the Wagon R, Santro, i10 and Vista getting a fair share of buyers.

Today, the Swift is still the most sought after B plus model in the market nearly a decade after its launch. Maruti’s offering remains in a league of its own and there is no reason why the momentum should slowdown.

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