Maruti launches updated Swift, improves fuel efficiency

Maruti Suzuki today officially unveiled the refreshed edition of its Swift hatchback with a claimed 10 percent improved fuel efficiency. Aggressively priced at Rs 4.42 lakh onwards, the Swift is aimed at for customers looking for contemporary styling design, superior comfort and convenience features and enhanced fuel efficiency.

The engines are now tuned for better fuel economy. The 1.2-litre petrol engine is now marginally less powerful (83.1bhp instead of 85.8bhp) but delivers a good 9.7 percent increase in fuel efficiency figures (20.4kpl instead of 18.6kpl according to ARAI). The 1.3-litre diesel motor continues with the same power output but a tweaked ECU and reduced friction has resulted in a significant 10 percent better fuel efficiency figure (25.2kpl as compared to 22.9kpl according to ARAI).

Several innovations by Maruti and Suzuki engineers to improve fuel efficiency include changes in engine hardware leading to improved thermal efficiency, reduced frictional losses and changes in engine calibration.

While the compact combustion chamber and higher compression ratio on gasoline engine helps to improve engine efficiency, the advanced thermal management system in diesel engine along with low friction engine oil and modified fuel injection system help diesel engine in faster warm up and lower frictional losses.

On the outside, the redesigned front bumper comes with a larger air dam and silver accents for fog lamp housings, a new honeycomb front grille, a new design for alloy wheels (top trim) and wheel caps (base and mid-spec trims), and three new paint shades – violet, red and gray.

In the cabin, the LXi and LDi variants now come with rear adjustable headrests and a 60:40 split for the rear seat. The newly added Swift LXi+ trim gets front power windows and remote locking.The VXi, VDi get an audio player, electrically-foldable wing mirrors and ABS (VDi only). The top-end ZXi, ZDi trims get new additions like remote locking with push button start, Bluetooth for the audio player and rear parking sensors.

Commenting on the introduction of the new Swift, R S Kalsi, executive director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India, said, “We have over 12 lakh Swift owners. The Swift now comes with improved fuel efficiency of 10 percent and a rich equipment list like push start button, a 60:40 split rear seat, electric retractable outside mirrors, reverse parking sensor etc. With these changes, we retain the DNA of the Swift and yet add features to make excitement come alive.”