The international version of the Swift comes with 4WD and hybrid for a long time now but these capabilities have eluded the Indian market.
The 4WD version of the new Swift along with a hybrid powertrain is showcased in this video. It looks like the Japanese model. For the uninitiated, the Swift has always been available with this configuration in many parts of the world. However, in India, the price concerns never allowed the Japanese carmaker to experiment with the 4WD or hybrid iterations. To be honest, I don’t feel that there is any need for a 4WD Swift anyway. On the other hand, hybrid is something that we can look at due to its low fuel consumption characteristics. Let us take a look at the details of this latest case.
New Swift with 4WD and Hybrid Powertrain
This video arrives from CARSTAGE MIRAI on YouTube. Unfortunately, playback on the websites has been disabled by the uploader. However, you can view the video by opening the link in a new window of your browser. Speaking of this video, it seems to be in Japanese. Still, the visuals clearly depict the exterior and interior styling of the hatchback. There are barely any differences in comparison to the latest generation model on sale in India and many other markets. Even the cabin layout and features look similar. However, the biggest difference lies in the powertrain. This Swift draws power from a hybrid engine with an all-wheel-drive configuration. It lends modern off-roading capabilities and high mileage which reduces ownership and running costs significantly.
What is interesting is the fact that Maruti Swift, with its new 1.2-litre 3-cylinder mild hybrid engine, is among the most fuel-efficient cars in the country. In the manual trim, it offers 24.8 km/l, while in the automatic variant, this number jumps to an impressive 25.75 km/l. One could argue what is the need of a strong hybrid if you can achieve such high fuel economy from a mild hybrid engine. Even though the strong hybrid would still be significantly more fuel efficient, it comes at a cost. The asking price will climb steeply too. Still, if someone uses the car daily, the low running costs can offset the high initial cost after a few years of ownership.
Our View
Prior to the launch of the fourth generation Maruti Swift in India, there were reports about the strong hybrid mill making it to our shores. However, we always knew that this would stretch the price way up. That could be detrimental in a segment which puts affordability at the top. In addition to that, Indian customers are inherently price-sensitive. The result could’ve been disastrous had the Swift been launched with the strong hybrid engine. However, now that the Swift is here and selling well, I feel it won’t be as risky to test the waters with an additional strong hybrid variant in some time.
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