Wednesday, July 01, 2020
By Kamal Swami
Maruti Suzuki Swift: The Successful Journey Of 15 Years
It was 15 years back in May 2005, when a new hatchback made its entrance in the Indian car market with lots of dreams to meet the expectations of the Indian buyers. Interestingly, christened as Swift, the hatchback from the Indo-Japanese carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited succeeded in receiving not only an encouraging response from the buyers but also set new standards for the upcoming hatchbacks in India. However, unfortunately, none of them succeeded in reaching the standards set up the legendary Maruti Suzuki Swift, which has completed the fifteen years of its journey this year in India and proudly still dominates the segment without any doubts.
Launch of Maruti Suzuki Swift: 15 years back when MSIL, introduced the Swift the hatchback segment in India was dominated by its elder sibling Maruti 800, because of its effective performance and affordable price. However, at the same time, the Indian buyers were looking for a hatchback that was enriched with premium features, within their reach, and offers a wonderful driving experience. Keeping all these factors in concern the Indian arm of Japanese carmaker Suzuki Motors launched the Swift hatchback in India, immediately after it was launched in the Japanese car market. Besides, being enriched with a powerful performing engine, the hatchback was also embellished with the features like Electronic Climate Control and a few more. The success of Maruti Suzuki Swift can be witnessed from the fact that it has been honored with “The Car of Year Awards” in 2006, 2009, and 2019.
Milestones: The first milestone achieved by the Swift of selling 1,00,000 units within the eighteen months of its launch, after which it achieved the mark of 2,00,000 buyers in 2008, 3,00,000 buyers in 2009, and 5,00,000 units sold till September 2010. In 2010, going through the new emission norms the Swift changed and got empowered with the BS4 compliant 1.2-liter K12M engine, replacing the 1.3-liter G13B engine.
The overall journey: Since its inception, Swift emerged as the leader in the segment and retained its dominance without any interference until 2010. After that in 2011 due to the arrival of various new entrants in the segment. However, with the launch of second-generation, the hatchback succeeded in retaining its position and touched the mark of 10,00,000 units sold in September 2013. In 2014, the Swift underwent a cosmetic update and received the features like Bluetooth connectivity and keyless entry, along with some additional features.
In 2018, the Indo-Japanese upgraded the Swift and introduced its third generation based on the HEARTECT platform followed by Auto gear shift technology, driver-oriented cockpit, ABS+EBD, dual airbags, and many more.
