Popular city hatch now priced from $23,490 following release of two more expensive new entry-level variants
Suzuki is the latest auto brand to hike the prices of its smallest model in Australia, quietly rehashing its 2022 Suzuki Swift line-up, which now starts at $23,490 plus on-road costs.
Gone are the entry-level GL Navigator ($20,490) and GL Navigator Plus ($22,990) grades; replaced by the GL S ($23,490) and GL S Plus trims ($25,990) respectively, with all prices excluding on-road costs.
The nameplate reshuffle has resulted in a hefty $3000 increase for both the Suzuki Swift’s entry price and the sticker price of the GL S Plus compared to its predecessor.
According to Redbook, the penultimate GLX Turbo variant is now also $1000 pricier and now starts from $28,790, with a similar increase being applied to the flagship Swift Sport (from $28,990), although we suspect another increase is coming given there’s now only a $200 buffer between those two models.
Suzuki is yet to confirm why the prices have increased, especially in the lower ranks of the range, and what differentiates the GL S and GL S Plus variants from their forbearers.
In line with global developments and industry trends, the most likely culprits are rising shipping costs and supply constraints, which continue to plague manufacturers everywhere, but that doesn’t entirely explain the hefty $3000 base price premium for a model that’s long been a budget-minded offering.
With the Swift now well clear of the $20,000 barrier, the aging Suzuki Baleno GL is now comfortably the cheapest passenger car Suzuki offers in Australia, priced from $18,490 plus ORCs.
There is a precedent here though, with the latest Toyota Yaris also packing its bags and heading a long way upmarket from its traditional light-car competitors. It now starts at $23,740 plus ORCs with the removal of the base manual variant and the addition of more equipment in mid-2021, after the new-generation Yaris arrived in 2020 with a $6740 entry price increase.
Likewise the facelifted Volkswagen Polo arrived this month with a $5960 base price hike, also taking the popular German light-car above the $20K mark to start at $25,250 plus ORCs.
From this month the Mazda2 also goes up by $300 for the base G15 Pure hatch (now $21,390 plus ORCs) and $2400 for the base sedan (now $23,990 plus ORCs)
As for sub-$20K light cars, the Kia Rio still starts at $19,690 and the Skoda Fabia is currently in runout priced from $18,390, but for the first 12 months at least a new fourth-generation model will be trimmed back to a single Monte Carlo variant priced around $30,000 from later this year.
That leaves the top-selling but ancient MG3 hatch as Australia’s most affordable light car ($18,490 drive-away), although the similarly aged Mitsubishi Mirage (from $14,990) and Kia Picanto (from $15,990) micros remain the nation’s cheapest new cars.
carsales has contacted Suzuki Australia for comment on the updated Swift range and its price increases.
How much does the 2022 Suzuki Swift cost?GL S – $23,490GL S (a) – $24,490GL S Plus (a) – $25,990GLX Turbo (a) – $28,790Sport – $28,990Sport (a) – $30,990
* Prices exclude on-road costs