Development on the new 2010 Suzuki Swift is stepping up a gear – our spies have captured the new Swift supermini on tyre test at the Nurburgring track in Germany.
It’s going to be a busy scoop spell in the next few weeks as the testing season ramps up at Europe’s most challenging road circuit.
Suzuki Swift: the new model coming in 2010
The Japanese are launching the new Swift at the 2010 Paris motor show this autumn, with UK sales starting a few months after. As our scoop photos suggest, there will be no design revolution. The current chunky mini silhouette will be refined, improved and stretched – for more cabin space – but it’ll still be noticeably a five-door Swift, according to our sources.
A range of small 1.3-, 1.5- and 1.6-litre petrols will be offered, as well as a Fiat-sourced 1.3 common-rail diesel. Naturally, the new 2010 Suzuki Swift will stick with front-wheel drive.
What no VW parts sharing?
The Swift has been developed before the Volkswagen-Suzuki deal, which saw VW buy a fifth of Suzuki. In the longer run, we can certainly expect to see more joint projects but models like the Swift are very much independent concerns.
The Swift is a firm favourite at CAR Towers; it was voted our 2005 Car of the Year. It’s also popular with punters, making up around 40% of all Suzuki sales in the UK.