Suzuki Swift Hybrid review: Cheap can be cheerful

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Remember when saving money was fun? Pocketing the coins you found down the sides of the couch and putting them into your piggy bank or Dollarmite account, all for the thrill of being able to save up and get something you love.

Well, times have changed and those bucks don’t buy as much anymore in some cases – but with the Suzuki Swift Hybrid, you can save money and have fun!

The Swift Hybrid is the cheapest new hybrid vehicle for sale in Australia, with prices starting from just $24,490 drive-away – and it offers unprecedented and unparalleled value for money, undercutting alternative offerings by thousands of dollars.

The Swift has been a key player in the city car segment for 40 years in Australia, having built a reputation among owners for being a sweet little urban runabout whether it’s brandishing L plates, or with a pair of child seats in the back.

The all-new Swift Hybrid has a characterful and fuel-efficient petrol-electric hybrid engine, which is made to be light on the planet and light on your wallet.

With official combined cycle fuel consumption figures of just 3.8 litres per 100 kilometres for the manual and 4.0 litres per 100 kilometres for the auto, the Swift will help you go further for less.

It is, simply, Australia’s best-value hybrid car. And the sub-$25K Swift Hybrid entry-level version comes with a manual gearbox, too – talk about fun!

There are also three versions with an automatic transmission as well, and they offer a breezy drive, with the clever hybrid system making your day-to-day chores seem like tasks you can set out to achieve in order to reach the next level of the game of life.

If you pick the Hybrid Plus or Hybrid GLX models, you also get features like heated front seats – ideal for those chilly mornings – as well as stylish 16-inch alloy wheels, paddle-shifters for the transmission, and wireless phone charging.

Every Swift Hybrid has great features like keyless entry and push-button start, so there’s no need to hunt in your bag for the key, as well as clever extras like heated door mirrors for those frosty need-my-morning-coffee drives.

All versions have a high-tech 9.0-inch touchscreen with satellite navigation, but for those who prefer to let their phone do the mapping, there’s also wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, and DAB digital radio – so turn up the volume!

Jump onto the Suzuki build and price configurator and see which colour you think slays the most – will it be Flame Orange, or the striking Frontier Blue Pearl with Black Roof?

No matter which you pick, it’s bound to stand out on your socials thanks to its standard LED headlights and svelte new look exterior design.

That pricing means it’s the cheapest hybrid car in Australia right now, and could be the ideal option for parents who are looking for a first car for their child, or a fun smaller car with that Japanese attention to detail and focus on efficiency Suzuki is so well known for.

Or maybe, if you’re a younger person who’s really into saving, you might be thinking about the Swift Hybrid as your first new car – and you can rest assured you’ll be spending that money wisely, with excellent running costs, a terrific five-year warranty, and superb resale values all worth keeping in mind.

In keeping with Suzuki’s ethos of lightweight cars for a lighter impact, the Swift has a lower kerb weight to help it save fuel, but it never feels like you’re driving around in a little tin can.

Plus, the brand has introduced a number of new safety features across the range including adaptive cruise control, crash prevention technology and safety aids like blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, not to mention lane-keeping assistance technology.

And unlike some of the other new cars out there, the technology in this car is intuitive and won’t interrupt your drive!

Being a Suzuki, it also lives up to the For Fun’s Sake mantra, with a lively and joyful drive experience that will make you long for the daily commute to the office… maybe. At the very least, you’ll have a great time on weekends in the Swift Hybrid.

And it’s super affordable for road trips or daily drives, too. What would a ride share cost you to go from the city to the suburbs – like, $50?

In the Swift Hybrid you can do a 100km trip for well under $10! And because of its compact dimensions and class-leading fun factor, you’ll even have fun trying to find a parking space – it’s like Tetris, but on four wheels.

All models come with a reversing camera and parking sensors to help you find your way, and it lives up the mantra of being a delightful and funky little machine to motor around in.

If your weekends are full of adventures to the beach or the bush, you can rest assured that the boot will fit all your bags, too. With 265 litres of cargo space, it offers more room than a number of alternatives, and with five seats, it’s more practical than you might think.

Driving a car should be more than just a matter of getting from Point A to Point B. It should be For Fun. For Ever. And in the Swift Hybrid, it will be!

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