Opinion: A look at the Maruti Swift’s 20 years in India and its future

It was on May 27, 2005, that an orange Maruti Swift made its silver screen debut in Bunty Aur Babli. A full 20 years have rushed by, and see how the Swift has grown into a handsome and mature lad.

It sure is a blockbuster of a brand, and is much more than a car, a product, or an offering from Maruti Suzuki. It represents a generational shift. Of millennial Indians. Young, ambitious and proud. This was a generation that was at home in a corporate boardroom in Boston as it was headbanging into the early hours of the day in a pub in Bengaluru. This generation defined the new India. This generation broke stereotypes, stretched boundaries, challenged the holy cows, voiced opinions, and was clearly extroverted. They were the fuel of a new and rising India, just off the blocks.

The Swift was the perfect extension of that generation in metal, glass, fabric and rubber. It was a symbol of personal expression, even if it was your family car. It was a symbol of the global Indian. It was more than the sum of its functional parts, with a stance and attitude that the country has loved so far. And mind you, it was not an instant success at launch. It took time to gain a reputation for itself, through word of mouth, user experiences, automag reviews and, of course, the diesel engine. This is what I call the “Sholay Effect” – success takes time to come, but once it does, it sets the charts on fire.

Twenty years have passed. A new generation beckons. Social scientists say that a new generation typically emerges every 20-25 years, which means that today’s Swift will have to cater to an Indian who was born when it was, in 2005 or thereabouts. These people have grown up in an India and a world quite different from when they were conceived. They do not think and act like their parents. Their challenges are new, their issues are different, and their needs and desires are of Generation Z, or Zoomers, as many call it.

The Swift today is an outcome of how it was conceived yesterday. The Swift tomorrow will similarly have to be conceived today to cater to Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Will these Indians see a hatchback in the same light as now? Will they want it in electric? Or hybrid? Or will they want to own a personal vehicle at all? Will they want souped-up versions for self-expression [finally]? Will they want hyper-personalisation? Will they want back-to-basics driving pleasure for personal mobility? Will it be just a vehicle or an entire ecosystem?

The Swift brand manager and product planner will have to have the answers and the directions for the next 20 years. For the Swift must retain the character of a 20-year-old, forever and ever!

Also see:

The Maruti Suzuki Swift: How it all began

Maruti Swift long term review, 9,000km report

Maruti Wagon R, Swift get up to Rs 89,000 off this month