New-gen Maruti Suzuki Swift finished ahead of Hyundai Santro and Honda Amaze to become Indian Car Of The Year 2019
Maruti Suzuki’s third generation Swift hatchback has won the Indian Car Of The Year award for 2019 after subjected to a number of evaluations from a panel of adjudicators. The ICOTY 2019 saw Swift getting past a raft of formidable opponents including Honda’s Amaze and CR-V, Mahindra’s Marazzo and Alturas G4, Hyundai Santro, Toyota Yaris as well as new-gen Ertiga launched last month.
The revival of the Santro nameplate has helped Hyundai in retaining its lost market share in the mid compact space and the new model was second placed in the standings ahead of second generation Honda Amaze that was witnessed a complete overhaul while going on sale in May 2018.
The judging panel for the 2019 ICOTY comprised of several experts across the industry from various media outlets. The 18 Indian auto journalists was the largest to be assembled as part of finding the best the industry has on offer this year. The ICOTY evaluations are in line with similar assignments in Europe, Japan and United States.
The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Swift rides on the success of its predecessor without disappointments. In fact, it did overshadow the previous model in sales volume within its short stint so far in the domestic market. It became the fastest ever car to reach one-lakh volume sales within 145 days of its commercial launch.
Having made its debut at the 2018 Auto Expo in February, the Swift’s sales figures are averaging around 20,000 units monthly. Moreover, it overtook the industry leading Maruti Suzuki Alto to sit on top as the best-selling model in monthly sales table quite a few times.
The new generation Swift is based on the Heartect platform and is currently in its sportiest avatar ever. The interior has been redesigned with addition of new features such as dual-pod instrumentation, flat-bottom steering wheel and SmartPlay infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
It uses the tried-and-tested 1.2-litre K-Series petrol making 82 bhp and 115 Nm, and 1.3-litre DDiS diesel producing 74 bhp and 190 Nm. Both the engines are mated to either a five-speed manual or an AMT. With a slew of standard safety features, it costs between Rs. 4.99 lakh and Rs. 8.76 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).