In the United States, Suzuki is more known for its superlative motorcycles than mainstream automobiles. It is a notion that has even been played upon by the manufacturer's marketing department in recent commercials. In other parts of the world though, particularly in places where small cars garner more of a following, the small Japanese compacts are popular enough to get their own race series. The inaugural Suzuki Swift Sport Cup kicked off in New Zealand back last November and culminated last month. Next up on the calendar, the United Kingdom gets a taste of the 1.6L 123-hp hatch in its own Swift Cup. The kiwi version utilized tarmac tracks, but the UK cars are optimized for dirt. This weekend will see seven identical Monster Sport Europe-built vehicles battling it out on part of the Pirelli International Rally course, the first of six rounds for the cup.
The low operation costs of the series and the accompanying television deal makes for an attractive package for participants, not to mention the high point prize. The overall championship winner also gets a fully funded ride in the 2008 Wales Rally GB WRC race. The vehicle entry will be a Suzuki Swift Super 1600, of course.
It's a common test-driving practice to attack a corner a bit aggressively and "see what she can do." A swan dive was the answer a driver in India received from a four-door Suzuki/Maruti Swift DZire during a test session. The car skidded out of control, hit a large rock, and then tumbled into the Shambhavi River. The attempt to emulate the Amphicar wound up more like an impression of Alvin, unfortunately. All four occupants were injured and ended up in the hospital, while the car itself appears to be a total loss upon its winching to shore. Reckless driving has been cited as the cause, although with a name like Swift, it's possible the driver was just trying to follow instructions. We wonder if driver training in India is as dismal as here in the United States, and judging from the looks of the car, we're inclined to think that the injuries were due to a lack of seatbelt use. Thanks for the tip, Rahul!
Click above (if you must) for more of the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire
It's a shame that more of Suzuki's line-up isn't as well designed and executed as the nimble little Swift hatchback. But we swear, this was not what we had in mind.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., the country's largest automaker and majority owned its the Japanese parent company, has taken the wraps off of the ironically named Swift DZire today, initial spy shots of which we lamented several months ago. Rather contrary to its name, we're left wondering what's so desirable about a trunk that it's worth butchering erstwhile attractive hatchbacks. The resulting conversion ends up looking like the hatch version, only with a tumor growing out the back. Maruti calls its "The Heart Car", but we'll go for the bypass, thank you very much.
More details are available at the DZire micro site, in the press release after the jump, and images in the gallery below for those with bizarre fascinations.
As we mentioned in an earlier post today, the Swift hatchback would be a great addition to Suzuki's lineup in the U.S. Much better than a mid-size truck, at least. The Swift is a well regarded little car in markets abroad where it's sold as a three- and five-door hatch, but if this spy shot supposedly taken at Suzuki's manufacturing plant in India is to be believed, a sedan version of the Swift is right around the corner. After glancing at the design, however, we're not so sure that's a good thing. The image was originally hosted on the GM Inside News forums by member indica (NOTE: the image was originally posted by amitverma on the team-bhp.com forums), and the comments that follow are not flattering. Panel gaps wide enough to drive, well, a Suzuki Swift through and tons of unoccupied space between the wheels and the wells in which they sit are tops on the list of what's wrong with this car, though we think the back end just look fugly. Those taillights look similar to ones used on the Yaris Sedan, and they don't look good on the Toyota, either. Unfortunately we have no information about the Suzuki Swift Sedan other than what this pic provides, but we'll keep our feelers out for more.
Next month in Paris, Suzuki will be unveiling the Project Splash concept (they're calling it a "clinic model") , a modern-looking-tall-bodied hatchback based on the Swift subcompact. The Splash will show off a new 1.2-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine and seat five passengers.
Suzuki is keeping the rest of the info about Project Splash to itself for the time being, though they did release a design sketch (above). With the big shield grille, wide, thin headlamps, and downward-sloping roofline, we're seeing what appears to be some Audi Q7 influences. The car offers us a peek at the direction Suzuki's taking with an upcoming model, so we're very interested in seeing the finished product.
Of more immediate concern to our European readers is the other planned Suzuki debut in Paris: the Euro-spec Swift Sport. The Swift Sport launched in Japan a little over a year ago, where it's powered by a 98kW (133hp) 1.6L VVT 4-cylinder. If the powertrain is unchanged for Europe, sales should be brisk when it hits showrooms in the Fall.
Of course, now that we know the Swift is headed to the US as well, it's time for everyone to cross their fingers and hope that the Sport is part of that plan.
(Press Release, Swift Sport photos after the jump)
The finalists were selected by a jury of 46 international automotive journalists in a secret ballot. To pick the
winner, the jury will rate each finalist in terms of overall merit, value, safety, environmental responsibility,
emotional appeal, and significance. The winner will be announced at the New York International Auto Show in April.
(Last year's winner was the Audi A6.)
Three specialty awards will also be handed out by the WCOTY program:
World Performance Car, World Green Car, and World Car Design of the Year. (Finalists in these categories are selected
separately from the WCOTY finalists.) Check out the WCOTY website for details.
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