S. Muralidhar

THE excitement has started building at Maruti Udyog's plant in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and amongst potential car buyers. The country's largest automobile manufacturer is gearing up for one of its biggest launches. Not since the launch of the Maruti 800 in 1983 has the anticipation amongst its employees, dealers and customers been so high.

The objet d'attention we are talking about here is the Suzuki Swift, the first truly global car that the Japanese manufacturer will be launching in the Indian market. Scheduled to hit the neighbourhood Maruti showroom in the third week of May, the Suzuki Swift has already generated a lot of heat in the automobile market with competitors working and reworking their marketing strategies and customers putting their purchase decisions on hold.

You may have caught a few glimpses of the Concept-S, the design concept car on which the Swift is based, showcased at the 2000 Auto Expo. But the new Swift is a lot different and much more practical than that concept. We think this sneak-peek of the Suzuki Swift will be able to give you an idea of what is in store for potential premium small car buyers.

The Swift is considered as Suzuki's most attractive and stylish vehicle. Since launch it has quickly gone up the sales charts to become one of the 20 top selling models in Japan.

There is a strong India connection for the Swift. From the time Suzuki decided to develop this Supermini, as the size segment is called in European markets, the Japanese company had worked on the design and development with engineers from around the world, motoring enthusiasts and European designers for fine-tuning the looks and performance of the car.

With the aim of launching the car in India too, 21 Indian engineers worked with Suzuki in developing this global model. This is one of the few occasions that engineers from India have been involved in the development of an international car model. These engineers from Maruti have been part of the Swift design team for two years, and are now busy testing the the vehicle in Indian conditions.

The Swift is Suzuki's first world car in the sense that it has been designed with European taste in mind and is being launched simultaneously worldwide. Both Suzuki and Maruti are positioning the car around traits such as style, modern looks and young attitude, in addition to the traditional Maruti-Suzuki USPs of fuel efficiency and performance.

To that extent the Swift will be a departure from the excessive focus on fuel economy and low maintenance that Maruti's other vehicles are known for. However, Maruti will want the Swift to also retain the image of a car that offers the benefits of fuel efficiency, performance and reliability. The Swift could come with a choice of new 1.3 litre or 1.5 litre petrol engines and may later offer even a diesel burner.

Although the pricing of the Swift will be decided at the time of launch in May, it is likely to be at a premium to the current crop of small cars. Maruti is hoping to clock big numbers with the Swift and the target audience is likely to be potential customers and current owners of the Suzuki Alto, Zen and Wagon R, Fiat Palio and the Hyundai Santro.

So, stay put right there if you intend shopping for any of these small cars. This Swift could be worth it. Await a more detailed profile and our take on this truly global Suzuki car by mid-May.

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