Latest news with #budgetcar
Mail & Guardian
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- Mail & Guardian
Suzuki Dzire first impressions: Game changer in the budget segment or the new rideshare vehicle?
The new Suzuki Dzire. Suzuki has experienced great success recently with the new The Swift was also victorious in the budget segment at the 2025 Suzuki Auto South Africa has not rested on its laurels and is back with yet another car in the budget segment. It was initially known as the Swift Dzire but Suzuki gave the Dzire its own identity in 2017, instead of labelling it a Swift variant. Now, the Japanese manufacturer has released the fourth-generation Dzire into the South African market. It's interesting that the marque has opted to release a new sedan into a market dominated by hatchbacks and compact SUVs, but more importantly, it is yet another of their products that South Africans will not have to sell a kidney to buy. Like the new Swift, the Suzuki Dzire is a good-looking vehicle. The exterior begins with a wide, sassy front fascia. The badge is slap-bang in the middle of the headlights and the clamshell bonnet brings the very neat and stylish front together. The back looks slightly boxy but the assertive C-pillar that flows into the compact boot lid and T-shaped LED taillight clusters help round off the shape. The Dzire borrows its interior architecture from the award-winning fourth-generation Swift. This means it features a wraparound dashboard design with horizontal air vents and centre controls angled towards the driver for improved ergonomics. I guess it's a matter of, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. But Suzuki has managed to elevate this interior with the colour scheme. The beige-and-black interior brings an upmarket feel to the vehicle. The only worry I would have is how dirty those beige cloth seats might get if you are not careful, especially since the vehicle is now being marketed as a family car. The Dzire has a 7-inch infotainment screen that is equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. All in all, Suzuki has produced a really comfortable and neat interior. A short drive around Johannesburg in the Dzire showed me three things about the car: it is comfortable for passengers, it has enough to keep you entertained and it requires a heavy foot but is not underpowered. It uses the same 1.2-litre engine as the Swift and delivers 60kW of power and 112Nm of torque. Suzuki claims a fuel consumption of 4.4 litres/100km but a figure closer to 5 litres/100km is more realistic. The Dzire comes in three options: a GA manual which is pretty basic and you only get steel wheels; a GL+ manual which is the top-spec manual and a GL+ CVT that has everything the manual has but comes in a CVT transmission. The basic GA+ comes in at R224 900, the GL+ manual is priced at R246 900 and the CVT completes the line-up at R266 900. This could become an extremely popular vehicle as the cheapest compact sedan in the country — or it could fall into the 'next most popular Uber ride' category. However, I don't think this is top of mind for Suzuki. It won't mind what the car is used for, as long as it continues to contribute to the brand's upward trajectory in the country.
Forbes
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Serbia's Yugo Cult Car Could Be Back On The Road By 2027
Budget cult brand Yugo has been reborn, and promises a running prototype of its eponymous comeback ... More car by 2027. Photo: Yugo. Serbian budget car brand Yugo is back. Almost. Just three months after the announcement of the brand's rebirth, it showed a 1:5 scale model of its promised new Yugo at the Car Design Event in Munich, Germany, last week. Yugo promised the hatchback will be true to the brand's traditional budget ethos, with only two doors in the B-segment (or subcompact) market. Boasting a clean design that could have come from any number of European hatch specialists, the Yugo is yet to be given a specific model name, despite there being plans for three different models. A sporty derivative of the Yugo will be announced at the Car Design Event Classic in September, while fans of the cult brand will have to wait until the 2027 Belgrade Expo to see a fully functioning prototype. Only a scale model so far, but Yugo promises to return with a fun, affordable two-door hatch. Photo: ... More Yugo. Yugo, lead by Professor Doctor Aleksandar Bjelić, promises to deliver a fun, affordable car that will meet global safety standards and launch with both manual and automatic transmissions attached to combustion engines. Electric versions are 'possible' (not probable) and there will be different body styles, too. The new model reveal comes 17 years after production of the Zastava Automobiles Yugo GV (as it was called in the U.S.) ended, having spent 28 years developing a cult following despite a reputation for poor build quality and reliability. Malcolm Bricklin introduced Yugo to the United States in 1985, achieving surprising success, with 48,812 sales in 1987 alone, despite it being the slowest car sold in the country. By 1992, that figure had fallen to just 1412, and Yugo departed U.S. showrooms having pushed 141,651 cars through to the streets. The original Yugos were very Yugoslavian cars, with parts made in Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia Herzegovina, as well as Serbia. But Yugo's demise saw the ascent of Dacia, in neighboring Romania, and the Renault Group's budget brand is one of the rising sales stars of the European car market.
