Why isnt the Swift very popular here in the Philippines?

[ghosthunter]

so to answer the question, why swift isnt popular here in PH, maybe most people only know how swift looks and nothing else, if they ask their friends for recommendation, their friends know vios, city, fiesta and nothing about swift. so maybe a marketing strategy? competitive price?

The Suzuki Swift is not popular is because the typical "Pinoy" is a conservative person who feels that buying a car should be a very careful decision. That is understandable given he would probably be owning the car for eight or more years. He wants to make sure that the car will still be easy and affordable to maintain even after a decade of owning it. The Suzuki brand is known for their motorcycles but their cars have yet to gain wider acceptance.

Also, given the Suzuki Swift is priced a bit high compared to it's peers does not help it gain better market penetration.

In the end, practical considerations wins over "cute" styling.

[CVT]

The Suzuki Swift is not popular is because the typical "Pinoy" is a conservative person who feels that buying a car should be a very careful decision. That is understandable given he would probably be owning the car for eight or more years. He wants to make sure that the car will still be easy and affordable to maintain even after a decade of owning it. The Suzuki brand is known for their motorcycles but their cars have yet to gain wider acceptance.

Also, given the Suzuki Swift is priced a bit high compared to it's peers does not help it gain better market penetration.

In the end, practical considerations wins over "cute" styling.

And, for that price,- a typical Pinoy would buy a bigger vehicle... Mas maraming sakay at mas pandarag sa kalye....

18.0K:sailor:

[oj88]

Just last week, we took delivery of a brand spanking new Swift. It's my dad's gift for my youngest brother for his upcoming graduation and as replacement for his aging and somewhat problematic Hyundai Getz.

I haven't driven it and I only got to look at the car from the outside. Seems tight.

But as far as Swifts being undeniably less popular, it has a lot to do with the lack of marketing. I also have inside info that despite their comparatively premium price, Suzuki sells their cars at almost zero margin. Their term is "palugi", considering that the Swifts are CBU (or so I'm told). By far, their motorcycle business provides 70-80% of their overall revenues due to financing. They stand to earn up to 100% of the price of the bike from loan interests alone. And knowing the typical pinoy, they're happy to shell out 3-4k a month for three years to pay off a bike that's only 1/2 to 2/3's of the gross amount with interest.

[stickers]

i read this just now, coz I was so busy driving around looking for other Swifts, still no sign of them. LOL. thanks for the insights, I exactly fell to the category of yuppies who care less about back space and just wants a stylish, agile car. As for aftersales service, they vary by branch. I particularly hate the branch where I bought mine. Pasig is the best, lets you even watch while they do PMS and oil change ( just to make sure theyre really putting Mobil1, hehe.

Read that Swift 2012 won COTY in India, NZ, and Aus, and its nice to see fellow members admiring it too. I thought Swift was a jologs car thats why I dont read anything
abt it here often. I alsi agree with the Pinoy mindset (some) of loving nothing aside from Honda and Toyota. The Swift is still a bit rare these days, but it feels good/weird how some Swift drivers flash their lights on me sometimes even honk at me, and I do so as well (just flash). Thats how rare we are, were like lost foreigners looking for someone familiar. Happy New year tsikoteers.

hehehe.. oo nga sir.. kahit din ako basta makasalubong ako ng swift i flash my light..

I thought this was something only Jimny owners do...

Flashing or honking is the way Suzuki drivers greet each other. We were also taught about that sa Team Alto.

Some says that it's a mini cooper wannabe daw kaya ayaw nila. Meron pa mga naglalagay ng bonnet stripes

Yup, Swift might be the Mini Cooper of Japan.

[funkeemunkee]

The Swift is now the second most popular car in NZ, next to the Corolla. If you notice, Hondas are not in the 2009-2013 list. Also, the Subaru Legacy wagon is always on the list, indicating Kiwis' preference for function over form.

New Zealanders' vehicle tastes downsize | Stuff.co.nz

[iceburn467]

old thread na pala ito...dami ng swift ngayon:D:thumbup::beer:

[philsat]

Hindi masyadong popular ang swift sa pinas kasi alam ng mga pinoy motor ang suzuki.. Nung nakita ko sa shaw room ang swift, alto, celerio.. Tinanong ko ang sales magkanu ang swift? Less than 1M daw kasi min cop ng japan.. Hay. Sabi ko ang mahal naman.. Buti na lang nag mura na ngayong 2015.. Haha. 600k na lang.

[cirdeolavar]

I would agree that most pinoys would prefer the more popular brands in the market specially yung magandang commercial with sikat na artista. Personally, we owned mostly Toyotas, from my dad to my sibling and me.

I'm now contemplating to change my aging but reliable revo, and thinking of a small car and choosing between a swift or a yaris. Reason for a small car: since my parents passed away already, most of the time I drive alone. Sometimes my nephew stays with me when his parents are on travel, so I got 1 passenger. May passenger din when I go on dates, so the small the car the more intimate, elbow to elbow?

So I did my research.

SWIFT: Suzuki naman I personally think is also a good brand coz the brand would not last this long worldwide kung di naman cya mabuti at reliable. They are more focused in small cars and small engine cars (I think that is why Toyota have a joint project/study/research with them now, para cguro ma improve yung wigo nila). Asked around friends into autoparts business about the price and parts of suzukis, when I mentioned swift, most of their reaction is that they do not have much parts for that model at sa casa lang mostly maka kuha. Is it good or bad reaction? Their next sentence got me, which is: "kung brand new naman bibilin mo, I don't think you would need any parts anytime soon kasi swift is very durable" yun ang sabi mostly ng autosupply owners friends ko. Aside from that, madami na din akong nakikitang swift and other suzuki models on the road, celerio, ertiga and a few altos here in Cagayan de Oro, although not as much as the toyota brand. Suzukis are also very fuel efficient according to the reveiws.

YARIS: the T-badge which equates to higher re-sale value plus all the advantages of the toyota, easy to find parts, easy to maintain. the model is known for it's fuel efficiency, or was it before they redesigned it kasi di na cya gaanong fuel effient compared to other brands now.

My choice: I am leaning towards the swift more and I might actually be getting it in a few months from now as my birthday gift for myself. The question now is which distributor ako, depending na on the discount they would give, either sa CDO, Cebu or Davao. Why swift? It is a small car, fuel efficient, i would surely seldom use the back seat for passenger so it does not really matter, my month long grocery naman is only about 4-5 S&R bags so it would definitely fit the trunk or else the back seat. Durability naman, I always think it depends on the owner/driver how he use and maintains the car; so far my 14yo revo 2x ko napaayos clutch, 3x napalitan yung belts, twice yung tires, using the 3rd battery now, once pina repaint or wash over ba yun?, then regular change oil every 10k using full synthetic oil, at countless flat tires which is I think normal; it actually still looks better than other innovas running around na hindi properly maintained.

Now I am deciding naman on the color ng swift, either silver (hindi halata kung madumi), red (very eye catching at sporty), or plain and simple white, these colors kasi highlights the floating roof design ng swift which di mo ma-appreciate if you get a grey or black, not very visible din ang balck for night driving aside from being a small car.

So I hope I would make the right choice shifting over to the S brand, keeping my fingers crossed. hehehe.

[oj88]

I would agree that most pinoys would prefer the more popular brands in the market specially yung magandang commercial with sikat na artista. Personally, we owned mostly Toyotas, from my dad to my sibling and me.

I'm now contemplating to change my aging but reliable revo, and thinking of a small car and choosing between a swift or a yaris. Reason for a small car: since my parents passed away already, most of the time I drive alone. Sometimes my nephew stays with me when his parents are on travel, so I got 1 passenger. May passenger din when I go on dates, so the small the car the more intimate, elbow to elbow?

So I did my research.

SWIFT: Suzuki naman I personally think is also a good brand coz the brand would not last this long worldwide kung di naman cya mabuti at reliable. They are more focused in small cars and small engine cars (I think that is why Toyota have a joint project/study/research with them now, para cguro ma improve yung wigo nila). Asked around friends into autoparts business about the price and parts of suzukis, when I mentioned swift, most of their reaction is that they do not have much parts for that model at sa casa lang mostly maka kuha. Is it good or bad reaction? Their next sentence got me, which is: "kung brand new naman bibilin mo, I don't think you would need any parts anytime soon kasi swift is very durable" yun ang sabi mostly ng autosupply owners friends ko. Aside from that, madami na din akong nakikitang swift and other suzuki models on the road, celerio, ertiga and a few altos here in Cagayan de Oro, although not as much as the toyota brand. Suzukis are also very fuel efficient according to the reveiws.

YARIS: the T-badge which equates to higher re-sale value plus all the advantages of the toyota, easy to find parts, easy to maintain. the model is known for it's fuel efficiency, or was it before they redesigned it kasi di na cya gaanong fuel effient compared to other brands now.

My choice: I am leaning towards the swift more and I might actually be getting it in a few months from now as my birthday gift for myself. The question now is which distributor ako, depending na on the discount they would give, either sa CDO, Cebu or Davao. Why swift? It is a small car, fuel efficient, i would surely seldom use the back seat for passenger so it does not really matter, my month long grocery naman is only about 4-5 S&R bags so it would definitely fit the trunk or else the back seat. Durability naman, I always think it depends on the owner/driver how he use and maintains the car; so far my 14yo revo 2x ko napaayos clutch, 3x napalitan yung belts, twice yung tires, using the 3rd battery now, once pina repaint or wash over ba yun?, then regular change oil every 10k using full synthetic oil, at countless flat tires which is I think normal; it actually still looks better than other innovas running around na hindi properly maintained.

Now I am deciding naman on the color ng swift, either silver (hindi halata kung madumi), red (very eye catching at sporty), or plain and simple white, these colors kasi highlights the floating roof design ng swift which di mo ma-appreciate if you get a grey or black, not very visible din ang balck for night driving aside from being a small car.

So I hope I would make the right choice shifting over to the S brand, keeping my fingers crossed. hehehe.

We own a 2013 Swift 1.4L.... well, my youngest brother does. I've borrowed it plenty of times whenever my own vehicle is unavailable. At face value, the Swift is excellent. It's probably just a few notches or so below the Honda Jazz, IMO.... It's the poor man's Mini, or so they say. It's got a peppy engine, hugs the road well, easy to park, and has average to above average fuel economy. The interior is plastic-y, but then this is not meant to be a luxury car.

The main thing going against the Swift is parts availability outside the dealership. If you look hard enough, you could probably find what you're looking for. They're just not as abundant as Toyotas or Hondas. Though, probably unrelated, our unit have this recurring problem with front-end suspension rattles that the dealer can't fix. I mean, the noise is gone when the car leaves the service bay, but it's back in about a month or so. My brother isn't a car enthusiast so he's learned to live with it.

Then finally, the re-sale value. Because of market perception of Suzuki vehicles in general, you'll be taking on a significant loss when you decide to sell it after a few years.

[mina_nuka]

We own a 2013 Swift 1.4L.... well, my youngest brother does. I've borrowed it plenty of times whenever my own vehicle is unavailable. At face value, the Swift is excellent. It's probably just a few notches or so below the Honda Jazz, IMO.... It's the poor man's Mini, or so they say. It's got a peppy engine, hugs the road well, easy to park, and has average to above average fuel economy. The interior is plastic-y, but then this is not meant to be a luxury car.

The main thing going against the Swift is parts availability outside the dealership. If you look hard enough, you could probably find what you're looking for. They're just not as abundant as Toyotas or Hondas. Though, probably unrelated, our unit have this recurring problem with front-end suspension rattles that the dealer can't fix. I mean, the noise is gone when the car leaves the service bay, but it's back in about a month or so. My brother isn't a car enthusiast so he's learned to live with it.

Then finally, the re-sale value. Because of market perception of Suzuki vehicles in general, you'll be taking on a significant loss when you decide to sell it after a few years.

doesn't any shop have this?


The Electronic Chassis Ear Finds an Issue! - YouTube