All-new Suzuki Swift on sale

The all-new Suzuki Swift has gone on sale in Ireland, writes Trish Whelan, priced from €14,650 for the three door GL to €17,550 for the five door GLX model with automatic transmission.

The new car is one of the cleanest petrol engine superminis on the market with emissions of just 116g/km and only €104 road tax, compared to the current model's 140g/km.

At launch, just a new Euro 5, 1.2-litre 94PS dual VVT engine is offered. It is one of the most powerful in its segment, with improved fuel economy (5.0 L/100kms or 56.5mpg), improved sportiness, performance and handling. It does the 0-100km/h sprint in 12.3 seconds and has a maximum speed of 165km/h.

With a longer wheelbase, new gearbox and new chassis, the new Swift is higher and wider than the hugely popular outgoing model which was voted 2006 Semperit Irish Car of the Year by the Irish Motoring Writers Association.

It is also one of the safest cars in its class with ESP and seven airbags as standard in each model, resulting in a 5-Star Euro NCAP rating. The GLX version adds air conditioning and alloy wheels.

Suzuki Ireland have this week written to around 2,500 of its existing customers heralding the arrival of the new Swift. They expect to sell around 500 Swifts units in 2011. Some 3,608 cars were sold here during the car's 5-year life span.

The 25 Suzuki dealers around the country are giving €1,500 off the price on top of the €1,500 from the Government Scrappage Scheme.

At the launch at the Aviva Statium, Landsdowne Road, Dublin, this afternoon, Niall O'Gorman, general manager Suzuki Ireland said three out of every five new cars sold in Ireland this year are diesel powered, but in the supermini B-Segment, four out of every five cars sold are petrol.

A diesel Swift is likely to arrive later next year, and most likely there will also be a GTi version.