By Otsile Kadiege

Suzuki debuted the near-production concept Swift hatchback at this year’s Japan Mobility Show a few months ago. The automaker was initially mum on the new equipment and powertrain the production version will get until recently. The new Swift will get a new mild hybrid 1.2-litre powertrain, a bunch of advanced driver assistance systems and an AllGrip Auto four-wheel drive system.

New MHEV powertrain

The current Suzuki Swift is powered by a naturally-aspirated four-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol engine developing 61kW and 113Nm. The new powerplant is still a 1.2-litre petrol engine, however, it has three-cylinders and is paired with a 12V mild hybrid system. Power and torque figures haven’t been announced as yet. That said, we should expect improved performance outputs as well as improved claimed efficiency.

The new Suzuki Swift will also get the brand’s AllGrip Auto system which is an automatic four-wheel drive system that engages when it detects a loss of front wheel traction. Suzuki remains quiet on transmission options, however, we believe the current five-Speed manual transmission will be carried over to the new Swift with the addition of the four-speed auto transmission.

Advanced driver assistance systems

Higher spec derivatives of the new Swift will feature a host of assistance systems like the new Dual Sensor Brake Support II (DSBS II) which uses millimetre-wave radar and a monocular camera to detect vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians in front of the vehicle, and help mitigate frontal, diagonal, and lateral collisions.

Other assistance systems include Driver Monitoring System (DMS), Lane Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Departure Prevention (LDP), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR), Blind Spot Monitor (BSM), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) and eCall.