|
|
Suzuki's Alto - eager for sales
publication date: Apr 15, 2009
|
author/source: David Miles
 | | | Right
car, right size, right time is how Rob Lake Suzuki's GB's product manager
described their new seventh generation Alto five-door City Car last week at a
UK media launch.
Just 3.5-metres in length, built in India
and powered by a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder
Euro-5 compliant petrol engine, prices range from £6,795 up to £7,960.
The Alto will return 64.2mpg in the
combined cycle and CO2 emissions are just 103g/km, the lowest for any five-door
petrol engined car in the UK claim Suzuki. Road tax is £35 a year.
The range consists of SZ2, SZ3 and SZ4
versions and insurance groups are 1E or 2E depending on the model. A four-speed, conventional torque converter
automatic transmission option is available for the highest SZ4 specification version
for an additional £600.
The Alto went on sale in the UK last month and already 1,009 have been sold said Lake, "exceeding our expectations
and we are well on our way to achieving 6,000 Alto sales this year, around 20pc
of Suzuki's predicted total UK new car registrations for 2009."
The company, well known for its small cars
and compact 4x4s, has targeted a total of 28,000 UK sales for 2009. This,
despite the current 30pc fall in the UK's overall new car market, is a small increase over the 26,000 Suzuki
achieved in 2008.
The Swift is Suzuki's best selling model range accounting for
50pc of their sales; the Alto will take 20pc, the Splash and SX4 10pc each and
the Grand Vitara and Jimny a combined 10pc share.
The City, Mini or A segment of the UK's new
car market is the only sector so far showing growth this year. In the new registration plate month of March
this sector saw an 84pc growth in sales over March 2008 but the overall number
of vehicles sold relative to other segments is relatively low.
City/Mini car sales for March were 7,259
units, a far cry from the 115,022 sales achieved in the ‘Supermini' sector for
the same month.
The City/Mini segment was led for sales in
2008 by previous model Ford Ka with over 25,000 sales. The Peugeot 107 with
16,700 sales was second, Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo joint third with 15,000
sales each. The new Fiat 500 and highly rated Hyundai i10 are now challenging
strongly for sales.
Rob Lake said UK sales in the A-segment
show that 63pc of registrations are three-door models, 97pc are petrol powered,
95pc have a manual transmission, 50pc of engines are 1.0-litre and 23pc
1.3-litre, 73pc of customers are retail buyers but Suzuki has a very strong
private buyer following with 90pc of all their sales being retail.
Suzuki was founded in Japan exactly 100
years ago when the company manufactured looms for the textile industry. Their
first motorcycle was launch in 1952, their first car in 1955, their first
overseas production facility in Pakistan in 1975, their first factory in India
in 1983, a first production facility in Europe was opened in Hungary in 2003
and their latest production facility at the Maruti Suzuki plant in Delhi India
opened in 2007 and produces 750,000 vehicles a year, 1 million in 2010.
This plant will also build the new Nissan
Pixo, a virtually identical model to the Suzuki Alto. Suzuki currently builds
960,000 cars a year from the two factories in India contributing to their 2.36
million worldwide production total in 2008. | | FIRST IMPRESSIONS | | Good things come in small packages so the saying goes and neatly packaged, fuel
efficient, low running cost small cars are increasing in popularity, sales up
by 84pc in the 09 new registration plate month of March.
Drive forward yet another new addition to
the A or City/Mini-segment of our market. The Suzuki Alto 1.0-litre,
three-cylinder, petrol engined five-door hatchback at 3.5-metres long and load
space ranging from 129 to 774-litres is one of the largest small cars in that
sector.
But priced from £6,795 with low
1E and 2E insurance group rating, 64.2mpg and road tax costing only £35 a year,
running costs are low, space is big - no wonder 1,009 UK customers have snapped
up the new Alto in March.
Although younger users are expected to take
the majority of sales in the longer term with Suzuki targeting conquest
customers in the 18-30 age group and many of them female drivers, Suzuki's
loyal older generation customers have been the first to snap up the Alto. |  |
Just right for credit-crunch Britain the
latest Alto is the seventh generation to use this model name over 30-years. The
latest Alto is built by Suzuki Maruti in a high-tech factory in India which
will also build the near identical Pixo for Nissan.
Low running costs and an attractive
purchase price are the two prime reasons for cash-strapped or cash-careful
customers to choose one new car over another these days. You cannot argue that the Alto with its low
insurance costs, low road tax yet five-door relatively roomy body design has to
be an attractive proposition. Build quality looks good, the panel fit and door
closures good, plus a proper steel surround durable tailgate, so all look very
acceptable. The interior also seems well put together and bear in mind this is
a world car built for some markets much tougher than ours.
The Alto has just the one engine option, a
1.0-litre, three-cylinder, petrol unit with a modest 68PS of power and 90Nm of
torque from 3,400rpm. This throaty sounding unit likes, and needs, to be revved
hard to get the best from it in acceleration terms but around town or cruising
on motorways it is perfectly capable.
Overtaking just takes a little longer but
that is no different to other cars in this class. Top speed is 96mph, 0 to 62mph takes 13.5
seconds but the fuel economy of 64.2mpg will appeal most.
The five-speed manual gearbox is light, slick
and easy to use. Luckily I also had the chance to try the four-speed automatic
gearbox as well. This is a proper auto
with a torque converter, no cheap, jerky, clutchless manual or power sapping
CVT system. Normally conventional auto
boxes are too expensive to put in small cars so the £600 Suzuki is charging is
a bargain and for some will be one of the reasons to buy the Alto.
There is the choice of three trim and
equipment levels, SZ2, the best selling SZ3 and SZ4.
As standard the Alto SZ2 specification
includes, ABS braking, power steering, electrically operated front
windows,
front and side airbags, remote locking, radio/CD system, Isofix child
seat
anchorage points and single bench folding rear seat. The SZ3
specification model, priced at
£7,245, has air conditioning with pollen filter. The SZ4 costing
£7,690 manual or £8,560 auto, has the added equipment of alloy wheels,
ESP
electronic control stability, rev-counter, curtain airbags, 6-speakers
and a
50/50 split folding rear seat. My ‘choice' model.
The is a full range of colours but Foretune
Rose, a sort of metallic pink, and Healing Green are worthy of mention The new Alto in short is cost effective to
buy and run, the ‘best on paper' in its sector.
It is designed for a European market, it seats two adults up front and
two children (adults at a squeeze) in the rear and the rear seats fold so the
Alto is useful for carrying ‘stuff' as and when. The ride is compliant, road
holding sound, lightweight construction helps with the fuel economy and the
retail price helps with the bank balance. There are many more pluses than
minuses. | MILESTONES.
Suzuki Alto 1.0 SZ4 Manual £7,960.
Engine/transmission: 1.0-litre,
three-cylinder, Euro 5 petrol, 68PS, 90Nm (66lb ft) at 3,400rpm, 5-speed
manual. Performance: 96mph, 0-62mph 13.5 seconds, 64.2mph (57.1mpg on test),
CO2 103g/km, VED £35. Insurance group: 2E. Load capacity: 129-774-litres.
For: Price, low running costs, low
insurance cost, five-doors for maximum flexibility of use, cheeky and cheerful
styling.
Against:
Faces tough competition in its class due to other heavily discounted models.
©David
Miles |  |
Download the Wheels Within Wales toolbar for your quickest way to keep in touch with everything that's happening on Welsh roads and in showrooms or use our RSS feed for the headlines you will not want to miss
|
|
|
.gif){kind=small}