The New Suzuki Swift Is Here With Its Strange Face

The affordable, no-nonsense Suzuki Swift is back for a new generation. Feel like you’ve seen this car and its quirky-looking front end before? That’s because you have - sort of. 

The 2024 Swift first appeared in a ‘concept’ form at the Japan Mobility Show (formerly the Tokyo Motor Show), looking very much production-ready. Fast forward a few weeks, and here we are with the version for the showroom, and funnily enough, it looks identical.

Despite being redesigned, the overall shape of the car looks fairly similar to the outgoing version. Arguably, it isn’t quite as handsome, with the loss of the ‘hidden’ rear door handles being a particular shame. You can, at least, spice things up with four different two-tone paint options, or if preferred, there are eight different single-tone hues to pick from.

Powering the fresh Swift is the familiar 1.2-litre, three-cylinder mild-hybrid engine, and although there’s no mention of power output, we’d imagine it’ll serve up the same 82bhp as before. We’re also hoping that Suzuki will at some point chuck in its 1.4-litre, 127bhp inline-four turbo engine to make a new Swift Sport.

The inside has undergone a radical overhaul, with a new, more modern look featuring a tablet-style infotainment system poking out of the dashboard to put it nearer eye level. It’s a nine-inch unit featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Interestingly, though, Suzuki hasn’t followed the digital cockpit masses, sticking with physical dials with a small, multifunction colour display wedged between.

You get a wide range of safety features as standard, including something called “Dual Sensor Brake Support II”. This uses “Millimetre-wave radar and a monocular camera” to provide audible and visual warnings of possible collisions with other cars, bicycles or pedestrians, applying the brakes if necessary. There’s also a driver monitoring system which uses a camera to scan the driver’s eyes to check they’re actually paying attention, and haven’t nodded off or are looking at their phone or something.

The car will be in dealerships by spring 2024 for an as-yet-undetermined price. For reference, the outgoing model starts from £17,199.