Maruti Suzuki is said to have discontinued the old (3rd generation Swift), in order to make way for the all-new 2018 model. The all-new Swift, to be launched in February 2018, will be the fourth generation model. Now, Rushlane reports that Maruti dealers are said to be taking bookings for the old Swift, promising customers that they’ll deliver the new Swift if the old one runs out of stock.
This running-out-of-stock is a possibility as car makers usually start producing a new model about 1 month in advance of the launch. Since the new Swift will be launched in early February, at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo, production is expected to begin by the end of December 2017, or early January 2018.
Maruti also has it yearly plant shut down that will happen in late December. So, the production of the current (3rd generation) Swift is likely to stop in the next few days as the company will have to re-tool the assembly line for the new model.
The all-new Swift will be Maruti’s biggest launch for 2018. The car shares its HEARTECT lightweight platform with the new Dzire and the Baleno models. The 2018 Swift will be sold with the same 1.2 liter K-Series petrol and 1.3 liter Fiat Multijet turbocharged diesel engines that the current model is offered with. It will also use the same 5 speed manual transmissions. However, a key change in the new model will be the AMT options that will be available on both the petrol and diesel engined models.
The new 2018 Swift is expected to be more spacious than the outgoing model. It will have a brand new, touchscreen infotainment system that supports Apple CarPlay. The interiors will also have a new design with a revised dashboard and better materials used.
Maruti is also expected to bring the whole Swift family to India over the next couple of years. This means that the Swift Sport and Hybrid models are also being considered for the Indian market. The prices of the 2018 Swift are expected to be similar to the outgoing model, starting at a little under Rs. 5 lakh.