Celebrating 20 years of the Maruti Swift | Deep Drive Podcast | Autocar India

2025 marks 20 years of the Maruti Suzuki Swift. How has the lovable hatchback evolved, what it’s done for Maruti and what lies ahead is the topic of this week’s episode of the Autocar Deep Drive Podcast. Joining Hormazd Sorabjee - Editor, Autocar India - and Sergius Barretto - Managing Editor, Autocar India - for rhis special episode is Avik Chattopadhyay, an auto industry veteran who was part of the very team that launched the Swift in 2005.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:15 A turning point for Maruti
• 5:38 The Swift name
• 8:10 Distinctive design
• 9:13 A mass hot hatch
• 10:50 A slow start to sales
• 13:07 A new approach for new customers
• 20:47 Riding the diesel boom
• 21:45 Plans for a Swift Sport
• 22:43 Swift Dzire
• 23:37 Gen 2 Swift and brand dilution
• 28:25 Maruti’s desire to go premium
• 36:50 Using the Swift to reinvent Maruti
• 40:45 Retail channel
• 43:12 Keeping the pull factor alive
• 46:22 Sales milestones
• 48:40 Future of Swift