Celebrating 1.3 million Swifts

The Maruti Suzuki Swift really needs no introduction in the Indian market. As common as trees on the road, the sporty little offering managed to captivate hearts with excellent driving dynamics, as well as frugal powertrain and is a brisk seller for the Indian auto giant even today. Such has been the popularity of the Swift that Maruti sold 1.3 million units of the hatchback in the country during its ten years of existence in the market.

Suzuki first started life as the S2 concept showcased at the Paris Motor Show in 2002, which later evolved into the Swift Concept unveiled at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. The company launched the production spec Swift in Japan in 2004 while the Indian launch happened in 2005 that saw the hatchback break sales record year-after-year and also win several accolades.

Initially available with only the 1.3-litre petrol motor, the hatchback hit its first milestone in 2007, clocking in over 1 lakh unit sales but it was after the diesel variant (with the 1.3-litre DDiS engine introduced) that sales took a steep incline. A familiar face on Indian roads by now, the Maruti Swift clocked the 2 lakh sales mark in 2008, whereas the 3 lakh mark was quick to come up in 2009.

The company then sold 5 lakh units in 2010 and this year also saw the automaker upgrade the hatchback to the 1.2-litre K-Series petrol motor. Since then, the Swift’s sales were immensely high with the additional 5 lakh units clocked within three years in 2013. During this period, the Swift went through a complete overhaul and was even more appreciated now with some major upgrades and frugal powertrain on offer.

The company finally saw the 13 lakh units mark on the sales chart in April this year as the ever popular model completed a decade of sales in the Indian market. In its latest iteration launched in late 2014, the Swift has received subtle changes to the exteriors while the interiors were upgraded with some much-needed features added to the list.

The updated model was also tuned to be 10 percent more fuel efficient while the petrol version saw a 9.5 percent improvement in its mileage figures, making it the most fuel efficient vehicle in the segment. India is one of the largest markets for the Swift and is expected to be one of the first markets to get the next generation model that is due for launch in 2016.