https://carspiritpk.com/suzuki-launches-msms-season-4-ecstar-and-upgraded-swift/
Suzuki Launches MSMS Season 4, Ecstar and Upgraded SwiftNovember 12, 2023

Nov 2023 https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/suzuki-swift-got-new-safety-features-price/ PS upgraded Swift and now the following features will be as standard in ALL trim levels:

• 6 airbags
• Front and rear fog lamps
• Headlamp leveling
• Auto headlamps
• Seatbelt reminders of all seats
• Rear seat ISOFIX – Child seat anchors
• Under body engine cover
• Change in emblem position and design

They didn’t say anywhere that the main headlight will be upgraded to the projection light in all trim levels, rn only the GLX has it https://carspiritpk.com/reflector-vs-projector-headlamps/#comment-14035.

both don’t have 6 airbags.

You are right. And the other thing is, being a 1000cc car, it would have meant lower cost of ownership. Lower registration and yearly token tax. It would have been a more powerful car, more up to date, better for the environment, better on fuel and cheaper to run and own.

If they really wanted to do it, the engine would not have been a problem. Don’t they still import the Vitara from Europe? They could have easily imported the engine from some other vendor.

But maybe the deciding factor in choosing this was was not to piss of the other members of the old oligopoly/cartel. 😉

Even if they wanted to keep the Bolan/Ravi, they couldn’t thanks to the new Auto Policy WP29 Regulations.

Don’t worry, I’m sure the new Every would launch in an absolutely barebones variant with nothing but two airbags as features so that it’s “affordable”, just like the Bolan and Ravi.

I agree, the hybrid and the 1000cc option would’ve been very nice to have. They could have priced it higher than the Cultus but lower than any other 1.2/1.5 liter option in the market, and it would’ve sold like hot cakes thanks to it’s hybrid drivetrain and small engine size. Heck, it would’ve probably be the first small sector hybrid to launch in Pakistan at a cheap price. A hybrid for the masses which is actually affordable and not a rich kid’s toy like Ioniq or Indus Prius.

But then, if they wanted this, they would’ve done it a long time ago instead of waiting for Thailand to start retiring this model of Swift in expectance of the new one so they can get the kits and molds for this car at a discount warehouse price. 🤷‍♂️🙃

You have raised a good point about freeing up of resources I agree and that’s why I said need for adopting a middle ground, the P.S. should consider offering Every for city-dwellers as you put them. However must continue offering Bolan and Ravi because firstly, both are still popular, both on average are selling around 1,000 to 1,500 units a month, which is significantly more than what Mehran was achieving in its last years of production. On the other hand, Mehran was a car, not only it belonged to a different vehicle category but was also losing its customer base, the reason, despite paying a high price for it weren’t able to permit the users to confine their monthly maintenance cost. That is to say in post-2017 models people faced rattling bumpers, my cousin’s car’s bumper actually came free on one side when it hit a pothole on a highway, and inner and outer door handles, which they had to pay for getting them clipped together very often.
In other words, users weren’t getting their time saved by keeping a Mehran. The time and money required for maintaining a car was the only thing that kept the car selling for such a long time and once it lost this unique selling point people avoided buying it and rather preferred a used Baleno, old model Alto, Cultus MK2, 7th, 8th and 9th generation Corolla, Corolla X / fielder, 2.0D or in some cases 4th generation City. All the said cars are considered durable among car buyers having a budget of about PKR 0.7 to 1.3million.

Secondly, Bolan and Ravi are still held as unique over all similar vehicles even if put through to an extreme level of abuse. In other words, both are durable, have low maintenance cost (time and money) and are wide, around average sized ten people can sit in Bolan and most of the users of both cars do not intend to seek tech wizardry, which is making these vehicle users different from car users who often seek features, because we all know integration of technology makes car expensive to maintain, if not in terms of money, it does takes time to get it repaired. For instance, I recently compared how people felt about Toyota Hilux, I found that the Clarkson guy stated that Hilux Revo has lost its charm with Mujahideen because installation of technology has made the vehicle irreparable by hand or even in a short time. In-fact people are holding out onto Hilux Vigo or even a model from the 80s. That is why Toyota is treading very carefully with Land Cruiser J70, the company in collaboration with government and other professionals and vehicle users are testing it to run on electric power. I believe they don’t want the vehicle to lose its original image.

P.S. I have given an example of Hilux because that vehicle was being used for dual purposes but too much focus on one type of customer has lowered the vehicle’s link with other type of customer base. I assume that is why they have offered a stripped out version now.

A company selling 2 generations of the same product concurrently is not uncommon.
In India they re-launched the Honda City 6th gen even when its production was discontinued after the launch of 7th gen https://carspiritpk.com/6th-gen-honda-city-launched-india-2020/.
There are some examples from China where more than one generation of the same car was being sold together.
Example is also present in Pakistan that too of PakSuzuki! They did it by selling 2nd gen Alto from 1979-2019 & in between they also sold the 5th gen Alto from 2000 to 2012.

But in this case I predict that Bolan is so old nobody’s gonna buy it when something new comes around. Case in point 8th gen Alto, now Mehran is quickly becoming rare on the streets of large cities. They aren’t going off the road, but they are going to 2nd tier cities. So the introduction of modern is serving dual purpose. It gives a choice to city-dwellers who can afford the initial price, and it also frees up resources to be utilized in other places.

i just wish Toyota offers the 1979 Corolla today so all types of customers feel satisfied.

One thing that could’ve made it better if Pak Suzuki took the initiative and introduced the hybrid version of the Swift instead of this standard ICE one. The one they should have gone for is the 1L turbo (boosterjet) with the mild hybrid option.

The 1200cc unit is putting out around 82HP and 113 NM of Torque. The Turbo 1000cc that I’m talking about (sold in Japan) puts out around 101HP and 150Nm of torque. The mild Hybrid system adds another 3HP and 50NM of torque. This setup is almost exactly the same as the one found in the JDM imported Suzuki Xbee. So you could say that the 1000cc turbo, mild hybrid, has a total of 104HP and 200NM of torque. Not bad!

Just imagine the fun this car could have been. It could have been an awesome pocket rocket. However having said that, the mild hybrid turbo engine could have also translated to very noticeable fuel savings for the consumers. If driven with a light foot, the mild hybrid, turbo 1000cc could have been light on the pocket as well.

I do realize we are not auto makers and only assemblers. This thing is made in Thailand and we are getting our kits from there. They only have the 1200cc there. But I wish Pak-Suzuki would have taken the initiative and sourced the 1000cc Turbo hybrid and sold that here.

It makes sense because hybrids are still taxed lower than conventional ICE cars. Maybe in the same price we could have had a car that would have been loads more fun to drive, more up to date tech-wise and offered good fuel savings (when not driven like a hooligan 😉).

Also, as it stands now, this is just another standard ICE car added to the local market; in a price bracket that puts this hatchback in direct competition with a lot of sedan cars. Just by going the hybrid route, Suzuki could have differentiated themselves enough in the eyes of the consumers to make this “new” Suzuki swift a very compelling and attractive buy.