The Suzuki Swift hatchback has been a top performer for the company since it first became available almost two decades ago. The fourth generation of the Swift has continued to sell well, boosted in the last year with the arrival of the Swift Sport model.
With its lightweight frame, sports styling and tuned engine, the current model is marketed as being “leaner, meaner and Swifter”. AA members and Driven readers obviously agree with those claims, because they have judged it the inaugural winner of the People’s Choice Award.
In the largest public motoring vote ever made in New Zealand, the popular Swift Sport was a clear winner. More than 53,000 AA members and readers of the NZ Herald’s motoring section Driven voted for their favourite new car model of the year from ten finalists.
Read more: Five ways the new Swift Sport it better than the old one
The Swift Sport was also voted Best in Class for the micro/light car segment. It was the second successive New Zealand Car of the Year award victory for the Swift after emerging tops in the 2017 micro/light car category.
They said it delivered a well-balanced compromise between driving fun and everyday practicality.
Chief judge for the New Zealand awards and Driven Editor at Large Liz Dobson said, “Suzuki deserves praise for raising the bar by delivering a well-balanced compromise between driving fun and everyday practicality with its Swift Sport.”
“Packed with a well thought-out features list and agile enough to please, it takes the sporting argument to potential competitors a step above it in price.”
Read more: New Swift Sport gets a bit aggro with JDM kit
“Suzuki’s tried-and-true ethos of placing each of the Swift’s four wheels as close to the corners as possible gives the Sport a fun platform to build off,” said journalist Matthew Hansen. “Its solid suite of safety tech, included sat nav, a reversing camera, and the all-critical Apple Car Play and Android Auto functionality.”
These latest accolades came on the back of rising sales of new Swifts in the local market, said Suzuki New Zealand General Manager of Automobile Marketing, Gary Collins. “There has been a substantial increase in demand for the Swift Sport this year, with sales up by 58 percent over 2017,” said Collins.
“At the same time, sales for all Swift models have increased by 29 percent in year-to-date sales,” said Collins. There are similar increases in demand in Australia where there has been a 39 percent lift in Swift sales this year."
Read more: Suzuki Swift Sport road test
