Tokyo show: Suzuki reveals five-door Swift Sport

THE Japanese-made five-door Suzuki Swift Sport – the new performance flagship of the Swift light car range – will make its public debut at the Tokyo motor show ahead of its showroom roll-out in both Japan and Australia.

The company showed only the European three-door version at the Frankfurt motor show in its global reveal in September.

Now the five-door version has emerged in images released by Suzuki ahead of the Tokyo show that opens to the media on November 30.

While the three-door hatch is made exclusively at Suzuki’s Hungarian plant, the five-door comes from its Sagara factory in Japan – the factory that supplies all Swifts for Australia.

Suzuki Australia communications manager Andrew Ellis confirmed to GoAuto that the five-door Swift Sport would be launched in Australia in the first quarter of 2012, powered by the same 100kW/160Nm 1.6-litre engine as shown at Frankfurt.

He said that, while Suzuki Australia had no plans to launch the European three-door version, it would still evaluate its potential for local launch.

Left: Production Suzuki Swift Sport 3-dr. Below: Swift S Concept.

In Japan, the Sport is expected to be formally released onto the market in late November, with other markets to follow.

The specially-developed M16A engine of the Sport produces 30 per cent more power than the standard 70kW 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine of the current AZ Swift range, and 8kW more than the superseded Swift Sport.

The naturally aspirated engine also produces 20Nm more torque – 160Nm at 4400rpm.

Suzuki says the new engine will deliver improved fuel economy, although no figures have been given.

A six-speed manual gearbox will replace the previous five-speeder, while a six-speed automatic with steering wheel shift paddles will be offered for the first time.

The Sport will get unique suspension tune, but will retain the standard Swift’s seven airbags that helped the top-selling Suzuki achieve a five-star ANCAP rating.

Suzuki says the Swift Sport is based on the Swift S-Concept – which debuted at the Geneva motor show in March and then went on to liven up the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne in July – but has been toned down considerably, losing its wild bodywork, including the rear-mounted wing.

So far this year, Suzuki Swift sales in Australia are slightly up on the first 10 months of last year – 10,219 to 10,079 – accounting for more than half the brand’s sales of 19,999 (down 4.1 per cent).