The new Suzuki Swift will be launching in Thailand
early next month. In Thailand, the Swift will be a Phase 2 Eco Car,
which means that it will be affordable and fuel efficient.
There’s a 1.0 litre
Boosterjet triple elsewhere, but Thais will get a 1.2 litre naturally-asprated
four-cylinder unit dubbed Dualjet. The K12C 1.2L twin-injector engine will go
solo, without the integrated starter generator (ISG) that a mild hybrid variant
gets in Japan.
This is of course due to cost, as the Swift is an
eco car playing in Thailand’s entry level market. Nissan’s Note eco car,
launched there early this year, also omitted the JDM version’s e-Power hybrid
system, making do with a 1.2L NA engine. The recently rebooted Toyota Yaris will
be the car to beat.
The Swift’s K12C makes the same 91 hp/118 Nm as the
K12B unit in the outgoing Thai Swift, but it should be more fuel efficient and
green to meet Eco Car Phase 2 standards of 23.3 km/l and 100 g/km of CO2
emissions. The new Heartect platform, which is more rigid and less heavy would
help the cause – the JDM car’s weight reduction is from 30 to 160 kg.