Ford killed off its long-running Fiesta this year in the face of declining sales, but Suzuki has no plans to do the same to its own B-segment subcompact hatch. No, the Swift, which has quietly racked up over 9 million sales since being launched as a global car 20 years ago, returns for 2024 with a new set of clothes and more luxury and safety equipment.
Suzuki says the fourth-generation Swift is all-new, but there’s definitely a strong resemblance to the car that came before, particularly around the nose. But this time the hood has shrunk, making the shutline more visible, the flanks have a pronounced swage line and the old car’s body-color camel hump in the otherwise black C-pillar has been flattened down.
There’s also a similar blend of old and new inside the redesigned cabin. Call us old fashioned, but those handsome, clear analog gauges look great, and swapping out the old car’s in-dash touchscreen for a 9-inch tablet on the top of the dash gives the latest Swift a more modern look. The climate panel has also had a makeover to bring it into line with other Suzuki models, but ditching foolproof rotary dials for toggle switches and buttons means ergonomy has taken a backward step.
Related: 2024 Suzuki Swift Revealed In Japan, Looking Identical To The Concept
Safety, on the other hand, has definitely taken a step in the right direction. Systems on the new car include lane-keeping assistance, driver monitoring, and Dual Sensor Brake Support II, which uses a combination of camera and radar imagery to alert the driver to cars, bikes, and pedestrians in his path, and can also apply the brakes automatically if the driver fails to respond. It won’t brake hard enough to avoid contact, though, which makes it sound like the kind of thing Mercedes was doing eons ago. But hey, at least Suzuki now has a phone app.
Suzuki was called out in a recent study for dragging its heels on decarbonization, but while Suzuki might be slow to move to fully electric vehicles it’s not averse to adding electric power to its combustion engines. Like more recent versions of the outgoing Swift, the new one comes standard with mild-hybrid power. Suzuki still hasn’t revealed power or performance figures for the Z12E 1.2-liter assisted triple, but we do know that it’s available with a choice of front- and all-wheel drive and has been optimized for low-end torque.
As a guide, consider that the outgoing car’s 1.2-liter mild hybrid developed 82 hp (83 PS) and took 12.2 seconds to reach 62 mph (100 kmh) with the optional CVT transmission. The Japanese version of the 2024 car released a few weeks ago comes only with a CVT ’box but we’re hopeful Europe’s model will still be available with three pedals and a stick. We’ll find out closer to the spring 2024 on-sale date.
