17500 Open Bookings For The Maruti Suzuki Swift; Manual In High Demand

Maruti Suzuki launched the new generation of the Swift recently and we drove it so that the review of the hatchback can provide you with all the details before buying it. The Swift is back in form, because Maruti Suzuki has already received more than 40,000 bookings of the car, and in the first month itself, the company says that it has despatched over 19,000 units of the car to its dealers. In fact, Partho Banerjee, Head of Sales & Marketing, Maruti Suzuki, told Acko Drive that still has 17,500 open bookings of the car. And clearly, the demand is on the rise.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Swift Review

The Swift employs a new Z-Series, 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine generating 80 bhp and 112 Nm of torque, mated to a 5-speed manual and a 5-speed AMT. Partho said that “The demand for automatic variants is significant, contributing to 15% of the total bookings. This indicates a growing interest in the convenience and ease of use that automatic transmissions provide.”

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Launched In India, Prices And Other Details

Having said that the manual transmission variants grab the lion’s share (85%) of the bookings. He said, “At present, the manual transmission is experiencing the highest demand among our customers. The preference for manual transmission can be attributed to its traditional driving engagement and the control it offers”

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Swift: Tracing Its Evolution

The mid spec VXI variant has been the popular one for the Swift for buyers. Partho said, “ The Swift VXI MT variant is currently the most sought-after, representing approximately 35% of the total bookings we have received to date.” In fact, the VXI and the VXI (O) contribute to 60 per cent of the total sales.

The top end ZXI and ZXI+ variants contribute to 19 per cent of the sales currently while the base variant is opted by just 11 per cent buyers. Overall then, the Swift has surely put life back into the hatchback segment, which till now has been side lined by consumers because of the emergence of the subcompact SUV segment in the country.