Currently, Swift quotes excellent mileage figures of 24.8 km/l with manual, 25.75 km/l with AMT and 32.85 km/kg with CNG MT
Maruti Suzuki, India’s leading car manufacturer, has just launched the new Dzire earlier this month, powered by the same 1.2L 3-cyl Z-Series engine that debuted with 4th gen Swift. This engine is touted to be a far more fuel-efficient unit than the preceding K-Series 1.2L 4-cylinder engine.
Now, there is a new variant of this engine currently being tested in India on the 4th Gen Swift. Test mules have appeared from what looks like Bengaluru, where we can see a 4th Gen Swift test mule without any camouflage, donning a Hybrid badge on its tailgate. When will Maruti Suzuki launch it and how much more mileage can it eke out, are the primary questions.
Maruti Swift Hybrid Spied
Ever since its launch, Swift has been India’s favourite hatchback. It has always aced its segment with impeccable sales prospects. With the latest 4th Gen avatar, Swift has had a major design overhaul to bring it into the modern era. Also, there was a massive overhaul under its bonnet too.
Older K-Series 4-cylinder 1.2L motor was replaced with a newer 1.2L Z-Series 3-cylinder motor. This new engine quotes higher mileage (fuel efficiency) figures and is more affordable to manufacture, owing to its 3-cylinder architecture. In India, this engine doesn’t get Hybrid setup, something offered internationally.
Now, the same hybrid setup is likely to be offered in India, as suggested by a recent test mule. Speaking of, this test mule is not camouflaged and has a Hybrid badge on its tailgate. Globally, the mild hybrid setup based on this 1.2L Z-Series 3-cyl engine is on sale.
This mild hybrid version quotes 82 bhp of peak power globally (2 bhp more than non-hybrid India-spec version) and has the same 112 Nm of peak torque. Another notable change is that global model gets a CVT automatic gearbox, while India gets an AMT.
Will it launch in India?
If Maruti Suzuki launched a mild-hybrid version of this engine, there would be an increase in mileage (fuel efficiency) and price. There is a good probability that this vehicle might be used as a test bed for fine-tuning Maruti Suzuki’s ADAS system. In the past, we have seen Maruti Suzuki use global-models with ADAS like Swift Sport, which never launched in India.
In theory, this particular test mule might be a global-spec model with ADAS hardware which Maruti Suzuki is using to fine-tune ADAS software and algorithms. Considering how price-sensitive Indian market is and the fact that Swift already quotes segment-best mileage numbers, there doesn’t seem to be a need for Maruti to outperform themselves, especially when rivals are yet to play catch up.
