Cheeky, stylish Suzuki Swift selling like hot cakes for a reason
The new Suzuki Swift
Image: Motorpress
Cheeky and stylish. Check. Fuel efficient. Check. Modern tech and comfort. Check. Affordability. Check.
It's kinda easy to realize why the Suzuki Swift is now one of the fastest selling vehicles in South Africa.
It's affordable, it's affordable, it's affordable, it's massively fuel efficient, it looks good and it's a little cheeky, with the daring LED lights and cute little curves.
When you're not in a painful rush, the Suzuki Swift is an enjoyable little drive with all the bells and whistles, albeit on the low end of the market.
I drove the car for about a week and for the most part it was a pleasant drive, except when I found myself having to put my foot quite hard on steep inclines.
With a 1.2 litre three-cylinder petrol engine (60kW/83hp) with a 5-speed manual or CVT transmission, offering fuel efficiency (claimed at 4.4l/100km), it's not exactly a beast on the busy bustling streets of Johannesburg, but it is super fuel efficient and that will come in handy in these Trump tariffs era.
The car is not perfect by any means, but for the price, you get a lot of bang for your buck. The car simply does everything it is supposed to, albeit, quite rudimentarily.
I drove the GL CVT version - which is priced at about R265,500.
New Suzuki Swift
Image: Motorpress
One peeve I noticed is that the car does not come with an automated central locking system, so it's quite annoying that you need to remember to manually lock the doors at every turn by pressing the button or else a sgebenga my easily gain access through the car doors.
It took me quite a while to recognize this, which is quite dangerous in itself, but I was driving near my local McDonald's when I thought let me spoil myself with a burger and chips combo.
Between myself and the McD staff, we dropped a straw and rather than letting bygones be, I opted to save the environment. I opened the door and rescue the thing.
But as I drove off, I noticed the doors didn't lock themselves as I accelerated beyond the 40km/h mark, which is a quite standard feature in most cars.
So I pressed the button and 'cling', they sealed shut.
I own an older model of the same car myself, two versions prior, so I do know the feeling. I supposed I was a bit disappointed that between 2017 and 2025, Suzuki is still insisting on motorists manually looking their doors.
Anyway, the rest of the car is as you'd expect, decent legroom for a smallish hatchback, but the seats are quite comfortable for smaller sized folk.
The car is perfect as a starter pack for a university student or an even as a first car for young professionals.
There's cool features like Apple Car Play and Android Auto, easy Bluetooth configuration and decent sound for when you're feeling jolly stuck in Joburg traffic on the N1 or the M1 highway.
With the Suzuki Swift, the Japanese carmaker continues to make a compelling argument among the best budget buys for 2025.
New Suzuki Swift.
Image: Motorpress
Fuel
With a 42 litre fuel tank - that will cost you about R940 for a full tank in today's market, and when we drove the car, the average fuel consumption was around the 5 to 5.3 litre mark, so there's quite a lot of kilometres per litre there, almost 1:1 between the Rand and the Kilometre.
It might not have the street cred of a VW Polo Vivo nor the swanky feel of a VW Polo Life, or the niftiness and aggression of a KIA Picanto, but it's pricing makes it a competitive and compelling car to consider.
It's nor wonder, this little man is smashing all sorts of sales records. Suzuki Swift 1.2 GL manual: R219,900
Suzuki Swift 1.2 GL+ manual: R239,900
Suzuki Swift 1.2 GL+ CVT: R259,900
Suzuki Swift 1.2 GLX manual: R264,900
Suzuki Swift 1.2 GLX CVT: R284,900
Pricing includes a two-year/30,000km service plan and five-year/200,000km promotional warranty.
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