Suzuki plays an ace with family estate

Partnership with Toyota is already producing winning products, writes Matt Allan

Sometimes it seems that all modern cars look the same. It’s easy to point at yet another new model and bemoan that it looks a lot like one that came out last week. However, a closer inspection usually reveals subtle differences.

But sometimes it really is almost impossible to tell one car from another. Take the Suzuki Swace. From a distance it looks like a Toyota Corolla Touring Sports. Even up close it looks like one and that’s because, behind the Suzuki badges, it is a Corolla.

It’s part of a partnership that has seen Suzuki and Toyota exchange expertise and manufacturing processes to strengthen their positions in various markets. And it is badge engineering on its purest level, with the logos being the only differences between the models.

That’s not a bad thing though. Toyota is back on form with the Corolla and the Swace shares the well-proportioned and sharply-styled lines of the estate body (there’s no hatchback) without any metalwork changes.

It’s an understandable approach. The point of the Swace

is to offer a quick entry into new markets with minimal effort and expense. And it’s a smart move, giving Suzuki an immediate presence in the family estate market with a well engineered machine.

Under the bonnet, the Swace uses the Corolla’s 1.8-litre full hybrid powertrain. With 120bhp, it won’t set pulses racing but it copes with day-to-day tasks admirably and the hybrid motor provides a useful extra slug of torque.

That hybrid system is a significant improvement on Suzuki’s previous setup, delivering more impact in performance and economy. Over several hundred miles the system returned 58.4mpg, pretty impressive for a petrol-powered, family-sized estate.

The Swace also impresses with its on-road behaviour. It benefits from light, responsive steering and decent handling. It won’t worry the Ford Focus or Mazda3 but that’s unlikely to be high up on a buyer’s list of priorities. The only downside is a rowdy engine under hard acceleration and a lot of road noise.

Like the exterior, the Swace’s interior is pure Toyota, which is, largely, a good thing. There are a couple of unusual ergonomic decisions and it’s not particularly stylish but it’s functional and neat. And, from a Suzuki point of view it’s a major step up in quality.

Suzuki says the Swace is among the most generous in its class for passenger space and there’s certainly room for four average sized adults and a practical 596-litre.

The Swace comes in only two trim levels – SZ-T starts at £27,499 and the tested SZ5 at £29,299, although at the time of writing Suzuki has discounted both by £3,000. Even before the discount, that means they neatly undercut the equivalent Toyota by around £1,000 but enjoy the same high levels of equipment.

Suzuki perhaps doesn’t enjoy quite the same kudos as Toyota – hence the lower price – but with the Swace that means you get all the benefits of Toyota’s expertise and engineering for a little less money.