Premium juice handicap for frugal Alto

One of Australia’s cheapest new cars will be forced to run on one of our most expensive fuels.

The bargain basement Suzuki Alto sub-Light city car category five-door that goes on sale this week with a starting price of $12,490 (plus dealer charges and on-road costs), has a super-frugal economy rating of just 4.8L/100km for the five-speed manual. But there’s a catch: it sips premium unleaded.

The Alto’s tiny 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine can run on regular unleaded in an emergency, but doing so could void the engine’s warranty if regular unleaded was deemed the cause of any damage.

This means, on today’s petrol prices, the Alto will be up to $3.50 more expensive to fill than competitors that run on 91 RON standard unleaded.

Using a middle-class Sydney suburb as an example, the price of premium unleaded is currently 10 cents per litre dearer than regular fuel (114.9 versus 124.9). However, history shows as the price of petrol increases, so too does the price gap between the two fuels.

But Suzuki says when buyers calculate the real cost they will realise they are in front financially. In its most economical guise the Alto has a theoretical driving range of 730km between refills. Using the national average of less than 15,000km travelled by motorists each year, the Alto should only need to be refuelled a little more than once a fortnight.

And the cost difference of regular versus premium unleaded over a year? According to our calculator: $72 (a rounded annual fuel bill of $824 versus $896)

The Alto is one of the first affordable cars to introduce new, super-efficient petrol engines that must run on the more expensive premium unleaded (95 octane or higher) in order to meet stringent emissions regulations which are due to be introduced in the next couple of years.

"Other car makers will eventually have to go this way, we've decided to introduce the latest technology as early as we could to avoid having to re-do an engine [calibration] later," says Suzuki Australia general manager, Tony Devers.

The Alto is also the first mainstream passenger car on sale locally that is made in India. It heads a wave of small cars to come from India; Korean company Hyundai is poised to follow with two Indian-made small cars in the next 12 months.

But Suzuki believes it has more know how in the city car class because the Japanese maker has specialised in small cars for 50 years. Indeed, Suzuki Australia is bracing itself for one of the new-car hits of the year, as the Alto's sharp price, long list of safety equipment and frugal engine will likely put it within the budget and the grasp of many used-car buyers (see details below).

Supply of the Alto in Australia will initially be restricted because of huge demand in Europe and India. Local distributors only expect to be allocated about 1000 Altos between now and the end of the year, with sales ramping up next year once supply improves.

Suzuki says there is no difference in the quality of its Japanese made cars and the ones from its factory in India, and points to an independent quality survey that ranks the Suzuki factory at number one in India for nine years in a row. What the study does not show, however, is how the quality of the Suzuki India factory compares with world's best practice in developed countries.

Suzuki is a huge force in the Indian new-car market, with more than 54 per cent share of sales.

Meanwhile Suzuki is a bigger car manufacturer than most Australians realise. In its Japanese domestic market, Suzuki is a mainstream player, with more than 13 per cent of all new cars sold there being a Suzuki (bigger, for example, than Ford is in Australia).

Suzukis account for just 2 per cent of new vehicle sales here, but the company believes the Alto will help increase the company's profile locally. It may even help sell some other cars in the range.

"Some people may come in to buy an Alto but don't want to wait," says Devers.

"If that happens, they may want to upgrade to a Swift."

The Alto is available as a four-door, four-seater only. It is classified as a "sub light" car, as it is slightly smaller than a Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris or Mazda2. It is available in two model grades, both with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission.

Standard equipment on all models includes air-conditioning, CD player with audio input, remote entry, power front windows, six airbags and anti-lock brakes.

The more expensive model gains stability control, alloy wheels, foglights, rev counter, and a six-speaker sound system.

The Alto scored three stars in European NCAP crash tests but gets a four star rating locally because side and curtain airbags are standard (in Europe only dual airbags are standard).

In a class that increasingly has space saver spare tyres, the Alto thankfully comes with a full size spare. Partly because the standard tyre is so small in any case, and also because the rough Indian roads demanded a full size spare.

Suzuki is also pushing the green message with the new Alto, saying that 85 per cent of the Alto's components are recyclable.

"We were green long before it was cool to be green," says Devers.

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