Maruti Swift hits the 1 million sales milestone, 8 years after its launch

12/11/2013 - 12:05 Maruti Swift, Maruti Suzuki Anjan Ravi

In early July this year, Maruti introduced a special edition 'RS' version of the Swift, to begin celebrations for the 1 million cumulative sales figure the Swift was bound to achieve during the festive season. According to media reports the Maruti Swift has just crossed the 1 million sales figure mark, eight years after its launch in 2005.

The Maruti Swift RS was launched to celebrate the 1 million sales milestone of the Swift in India.

Recounting the Swift's Indian journey, Mayank Pareek, chief operating officer marketing and sales of Maruti Suzuki said that Maruti was hoping to sell 5,000 units/month in 2005, and this was seen as an ambitious target as the market for premium hatchbacks was not created then.

Since its launch in 2005, the Swift has consistently ranked at the top of the sales chart and 2013 is no different: For the first 10 months of this year, the Swift is the 3rd best selling car with average monthly sales at 16,673 units.

Front three quarter of the 2014 Suzuki Swift facelift — A mildly updated model of the current generation Swift was launched in Europe and Japan in the middle of this year. India is yet to receive it.

In India, Maruti launched the Swift with a petrol engine option which was the same 1.3-liter engine used by the Esteem. A 1.3-liter diesel engine (the Fiat MultiJet engine) was added a couple of years into the launch. During its mid-life facelift, Maruti replaced the 1.3-liter petrol with the more modern 1.2-liter K-Series engine, which continues to be the sole petrol option for the Indian Swift.

See more images of the Swift facelift expected next year in India

One thing that's being missed in India is the Swift Sport. While many International markets get the Swift with the 1.6-liter engine, we have lost faith in Maruti introducing the Sport in India.