Chris Riley tests the 2025 Suzuki Swift Hybrid GLX small hatch with pricing, specs, ride and handling, safety, verdict and everything the over-50 driver needs to know.
Summary: You get what you pay for in the Suzuki Swift Hybrid, and you’re not paying very much. It’s not a true hybrid because it can’t run solely on electric power, but it’s still very economical.
2025 Suzuki Swift Hybrid GLX small hatch
Pricing: $24,490 (entry level), Hybrid Plus $28,490, Hybrid GLX $29,490 (all driveaway)
Options: CVT $1000, metallic paint $645, two-tone paint $1145
Warranty: Five-years/100,000 km, battery five years
Safety: ANCAP one star
Engine: 1.2-litre naturally aspirated three-cylinder petrol engine, plus 12-volt 2.3kW electric motor
Service intervals: 12 months or 15,000km
Power: 61kW @ 5700rpm
Torque: 112Nm @ 4500rpm
Transmission: CVT with seven simulated gear ratios, front-wheel drive
Body: 3860mm (long); 1735mm (wide); 1520mm (high)
Build country: Japan
Kerb weight: 990kg
Towing capacity: 1000kg
Luggage storage: 265L (seats up), 589L (seats folded)
Wheels: 16-inch alloy (GLX)
Tyres: 185/55R16 (GLX)
Spare wheel: repair kit
Ground clearance: 163mm
Turning circle: 9.6m
Fuel tank: 37 litres
Claimed consumption: 4.0L/100km (95 RON unleaded)
Consumption on test: 5.0L/100km (647km)
seniordriveraus consumption on test: 4.3L/100km (474km)
[review]
Wow! Considering that Toyota launched its first hybrid in 2001. It beggars belief that it took Suzuki until 2024 – 23 years later – to release its first hybrid offering.
Talk about dragging the chain. Not only that, but it has been added to a small fuel-efficient hatchback that arguably doesn’t really need it – the Swift.
The Hamamatsu-based company has however taken a slightly different approach, because the hybrid does not directly power the wheels.
So let’s take a closer look at this latecomer to a party that is almost over.
What’s it cost?
The new Swift Hybrid comes in three grades, with a CVT or five-speed manual transmission.
Prices start at $24,490 for the entry-level manual, with the CVT adding $1000. Mid-range Hybrid Plus is $28,490 while the top-of-the-tree Hybrid GLX is $29,490. All prices are driveaway.
Metallic paint is an additional $645 while the two-tone option costs $1145.
All grades are powered by a 1.2-litre non-turbo three-cylinder engine with 12-volt ‘mild-hybrid’ assistance.
Standard kit includes heated, cloth trimmed front seats, a leather steering wheel, keyless entry and start, LED headlights, rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera.
GLX adds 16-inch polished alloys, wireless phone charging, climate-control air, folding side mirrors, paddle shifters, and … drum roll … a heating duct for rear passengers (reminds me of my old Beetle).
You also get adaptive cruise control, auto high beam and traffic sign recognition.
Pride of place in the cabin goes to a new, larger 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, with wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, satellite navigation, Bluetooth and AM/FM and DAB+ digital radio.
Great, but the audio is let down badly by an off-the-shelf six-speaker sound system which does not do the technology justice.
The large screen is impressive, but is sluggish to respond while the built-in navigation is not up to the job.
The touchscreen can also be used to display performance data, including fuel level, cruising range, warnings and rear-view camera vision.
Up front are a 12-volt socket, plus USB-A and USB-C ports, and, in the GLX, a wireless phone charging pad.
It is a real concern that the current Swift scores a single star out of five for crash safety, with adult occupant protection rated at just 47 percent.
Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting airbags are standard.
A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is not available.
Autonomous emergency braking (Car-to-Car, Vulnerable Road User and Junction Assist) as well as a lane support system with lane keep assist (LKA), lane departure warning (LDW) and emergency lane keeping (ELK), and a speed assist system (SAS) are standard.
AEB Backover is, however, not available.
The Swift Hybrid is covered by a five-year warranty which includes the lithium-ion battery.
What’s it go like?
The latest Swift Hybrid is a little bigger than its predecessor, but not by much.
It has the same 2450mm wheelbase. The width and height remain the same, but it’s 20mm longer with a bit more cargo space.
The front seats have been redesigned with a new decorative centre pattern. They are heated, but flat and lack power adjustment, even in the top-of-the-line GLX.
Tilt-and-reach steering wheel adjustment delivers a comfortable driving position but rear legroom is tight.
With no centre console to speak of, storage space for small things is pretty much non-existent.
The rear mounted cupholders are difficult to access and not sufficient to accommodate a sports bottle.
While physical air-con controls have been retained, they are now toggle switches rather than rotary dials.
A pair of fiddly touch-sensitive buttons under the infotainment screen provide access to volume control, with volume switch on the steering wheel for the driver.
There’s 265 litres of storage space available with the rear seat backs upright, 589 litres with them folded.
The new 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine produces less power and torque than the old 1.2, with 61kW vs 66kW and 112Nm vs 120Nm.
Drive is to the front wheels through a CVT-style automatic.
Bear in mind the car weighs 57kg more than the comparable 2024 Suzuki Swift GL Shadow Auto with a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine.
Less power and more weight make for a slower car.
There are two kinds of hybrid – series and parallel.
In series hybrids, only the electric motor drives the drivetrain. A small petrol-engine (also called range extender) works as a generator to power the electric motor or to recharge the batteries.
Nissan’s current range of hybrids are a good example of this technology because the petrol engine does not power the wheels.
In parallel hybrids, the petrol engine and electric motor are both connected to the mechanical transmission and can simultaneously transmit power to drive the wheels, usually through a conventional transmission. The Prius is probably the best-known example.
You might have also heard the term “mild hybrid”.
Mild hybrids have electric motors that aren’t powerful enough to propel the vehicle alone.
They may sit between the engine and transmission, or be part of an integrated starter-generator system in which a beefier electric motor replaces both these components.
Most mild hybrids operate at 48 volts, with an electric motor that can add about 10kW under hard acceleration.
However, the system in the Suzuki runs a 12-volt system, 75 percent less than a 48-volt system, with an electric motor that can only supply up to 2.3kW.
It’s designed to give the Swift are a small boost in acceleration, a small reduction in fuel consumption and a smooth restart experience accelerating from the lights.
Note that recurring word “small”.
A light on the dash tells the driver when the battery is being charged, while the instrument display also shows what mix of petrol and electric power is driving the wheels.
But don’t expect much in terms of performance from this new addition – not with token figures like this.
The hybrid in our test vehicle was paired with a CVT-style auto, with seven simulated gear ratios.
Manual mode is accessed via steering-wheel paddles in the GLX, or by pulling the gear selector all the way back.
In fact, as we have mentioned previously, it’s one of the great failings of the Suzuki transmission because there’s no lockout.
It is very easy to go right past D, find yourself in Manual mode. This is especially likely when attempting a quick three-point turn.
CVT transmissions are usually okay around town and this one is no exception, if at times you have to put the boot in.
But point them at a hill or something a bit more challenging and wait for the feedback.
The engine revs go ballistic as the gearbox struggles to meet the demands of the driver and the noise quickly ramps up.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the whole thing is going to blow.
We also find it mind-boggling that the brakes on the back of this state-of-the-art Swift are drums. They are probably the same drums they’ve been fitting since the Eighties.
The 16-inch polished alloys are fitted with 185/55 series rubber.
In the event of a flat tyre, a tyre repair kit is provided – no spare.
Fuel consumption is a claimed 4.0L/100km using premium unleaded. We were getting 5.0L/100km after some 647km of mixed driving.
What we like
- Fun factor
- Larger screen
- More accessible torque
- Very low fuel consumption
What we don’t like
- Flattish seats
- That grey felt
- One-star safety rating
- Rear drum brakes
- No increase in rear legroom
- Clearly no match for Chinese
What over-50s need to know
I’ve always liked the Swift. In fact, I had one of the first GTIs and it was a dead-set rocket.
I wish I could say the same about the Swift Hybrid. At the end of the day, it just seems like a lot of wasted time and effort for very little perceptible gain.
Can hardly wait for the EV.
seniordriver comments
The new Swift looks remarkably like the old one, but we are reliably informed every single panel is different.
The price will be the first attraction (had Suzuki opted to bring in the non-hybrid model that’s available in Japan, it could have been even lower, perhaps close to $20,000).
You’ll need to factor in the need for 95 RON unleaded, because it was needed for the Swift to meet Euro 6 emissions standards which required a particulate filter.
The Swift feels more spacious than it has any right to, considering its compact dimensions, and is still identifiably a Swift, with its short overhangs, relatively long wheelbase, upright A-pillars and shallow windscreen.
Perhaps the only thing that gives us pause for thought is that abysmal one-star ANCAP rating. It is hard to understand when the European models when tested by Euro NCAP scored three stars. The reason for the low score here is limited by the Swift’s inability to protect occupants in the event of a crash, not how well its crash avoidance can prevent one.
In the European tests, the Swift received scores of 67 percent for adult occupant protection and 65 percent for child occupant protection, falling well short of the 80 percent required for five stars. Local testing revealed the Swift scored just 47 percent for adult occupant protection and 59 percent for child occupant protection.
ANCAP reported that the Swift “performed differently” when crash tested in Australia, and had been informed of physical differences between locally-supplied Swifts and those supplied in Europe, despite the car being built for Europe and Australia in the same factory in Makinohara, Japan.