News Suzuki Swift Sport under a cloud

Is the much-loved Suzuki Swift Sport and its zippy 103kW/230Nm four-cylinder turbo engine about go extinct?

It’s beginning to look that way.

During the recent national press launch of the fourth-generation 2024 Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Australia made it clear that hot hatches and sports cars were not a priority for the Japanese small-car brand.

Instead, Suzuki is focussed on meeting impending CO2 emissions standards both globally and here in Australia, pushing its R&D spend towards electrification and promising to offer hybrid versions of almost all of its models by 2025.

So is there room for a new-generation Suzuki Swift Sport in the range?

Suzuki Australia’s general manager for cars, Michael Pachota, said he hopes so but his frank appraisal of the market suggests it’s unlikely.

“You’ve got to look at what’s changing in the world and the demand for a product like that,” he said of the Swift Sport, pointing out that several other pocket rockets like the Ford Fiesta ST have already been terminated.

The Renault Clio RS and Peugeot 208 GTi (and their larger Megane RS and 308 GTi hot hatch siblings) are two other light-size performance hatchbacks now deleted from Australian showrooms and they won’t be the last.

“There’s got to be consideration around the vehicle’s power output versus how it sits in today’s global markets where most countries are looking at lowering emissions.

“With that consideration, you’ve got to have common sense around the expectation of sports cars and their future moving forward,” said Pachota, apparently pouring cold water on the prospect of an all-new Swift Sport.

The quintessential hot hatch was once a must-have for any mainstream car-maker, and in Suzuki’s case it was the 1.4-litre turbo-petrol Swift Sport that generated a halo effect for regular Suzuki models in showrooms.

Pachota agreed that hot hatches were “absolutely” crucial for auto brands 10 or 20 years ago but said that times have changed, potentially leaving Suzuki’s product plan bereft of performance models.

“There is a plan for the future but at the same time I’ve not seen sports cars in the list,” he said.

As emissions regulations continue to erode the confidence of car-makers to invest in affordable combustion-powered performance cars, vehicles like the Suzuki Swift Sport look like being left behind.

The latest (now previous generation) Swift Sport is priced from just $28,990 and will continue to give Suzuki with an image-leading pint-size performance model that produces 103kW/230Nm until stocks run out.

The new-generation Swift is offered with only one mild-hybrid engine in Australia, generating a meagre 61kW/112Nm.

Pachota hinted that series or parallel hybrid powerplants could be added to the engine range in future to give the Swift a bit more vigour.

“That’s the engine we’ve been given as an option for our market at this stage. I’d like to think that will evolve in the future because we’ve seen that occur for other mild-hybrid engine platforms that upgrade to stronger hybrid integration.

“I guess we’ll see,” he said.

Whichever way the Suzuki Swift evolves in its fourth generation, it now appears likely to do so without the added glow of a more powerful performance flagship – despite some mouth-watering renders illustrating what the next-gen Suzuki Swift Sport may have looked like.

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