And the cheapest new hybrid in the country is ….?

TWO small cars popular with Kiwis seem set to go head-to-head in the hybrid sector.

The baby bash is between market-fresh versions of the Suzuki Swift and Toyota Yaris, the first in updated form and the second as a brand-new car, and effectively pitches the country’s smallest distributor of mainstream Japanese product against the largest.

It’s a stoush between neighbours, too, as Suzuki New Zealand bases in Whanganui, just 73km and a 57-minute drive from Toyota New Zealand’s headquarters in Palmerston North.

Suzuki’s announcement today that it intends to add a petrol-electric version of the Swift, in two levels of trim, is not in itself a shock – the distributor has been trying to achieve this edition since it went into production four years ago.

It knows there is plenty of demand here as hundreds have already been sold here. However, those cars were not represented by the brand; they’re Japanese domestic market fare brought in as used imports. Suzuki NZ’s attempt to convince the factory in Japan to facilitate the model as an export product has always been unsuccessful – until now, of course.

Now that it can be delivered as a brand-new car, Suzuki NZ is wasting no time to achieve maximum potential, by presenting the car as the country’s ‘most affordable’ (meaning cheapest) battery-assisted brand-new choice.

It’s a claim that stands scrutiny yet will cause Toyota marketing execs’ ears to burn nonetheless: They would have confidently expected to reserve the same claim for the Yaris, releasing on August 1.

However, Suzuki has it gazumped.

The Swift places at $26,500 for the base GLX version and $28,500 for the LTD, whereas Toyota intends the Yaris to achieve a $27,990 buy-in in its entry format and $33,490 in a plusher ZR trim.

There are still some face-savings for the market leader.

Toyota will still be able to assert its car is the more frugal, at least in factory testing – which often provisions figures that are challenging to achieve in real life.

Suzuki today said the new Swift derivative will achieve 4.1 litres per 100km, a 15 percent improvement over the conventionally-powered edition. That makes it the most economical Swift model sold here.

Yet it’s still not in the same league as the Yaris, which Toyota asserts has potential for 3.3 litres per 100km optimal – an outcome that presents 0.6L/km and 0.1L/100km improvements over its previous hybrid heroes, the Prius C and the larger Prius hatch. It also presents a 1.6L/100km advantage over the best a pure petrol new-gen Yaris will achieve.

The Toyota also has a performance edge – the Yaris hybrid packs 67kW of power and 120Nm torque against the Swift’s 61kW/107Nm – produces lower emissions, has a slightly more powerful lithium ion battery, have a stronger specification and its hybrids carry a lower premium over the equivalent standard versions.

In general terms, both operate in the same manner, with a parallel (aka mild hybrid) set-up that favours the electric motor for start offs and very low speed driving, but never driving wholly on battery impetus for a sustained duration as a full electric car does.

The Suzuki combines a belt-driven integrated starter generator (ISG) and the 10Ah lithium-ion battery with the ISG acting as both a generator and starter motor. It recharges the battery with electricity generated by deceleration, stops unnecessary power generation during cruising and reduces engine load during fuel-consuming standing starts and acceleration by providing motor assist.

During acceleration the ISG uses stored power to drive the motor and further improves fuel efficiency. The long-life lithium-ion battery stores electrical energy recovered from deceleration and braking while the integrated starter generator operates the idle stop/stop function.

The hybrid’s engine has a high compression ratio (13.0 to 1) that asks for 95RON octane petrol or greater.

Suzuki locates the hybrid battery and its control unit under the front passenger’s seat, for better weight distribution. Besides assisting the engine, the battery powers various electric parts, including engine electronics, the speedometer, air conditioning, audio and Bluetooth and smartphone connectivity.

Specific instrument cluster displays allow drivers to observe the changes between electric assistance and petrol operation. These also show the amount of fuel saved, how much idle stop time has amassed, instant and average fuel consumption.

The Swift Hybrid has a bespoke grille pattern to signal its status. Adaptive cruise control, LED projector and auto levelling headlamps, advanced forward detection system, front fog lamps, reverse camera, speed limiter, hill hold control, brake override system, heated mirrors and tyre pressure monitoring are standard and both model grades run on 16-inch wheels.

Whereas the GLX is equipped with Radar Brake Support, the LTD grade adds lane departure warning and prevention, door mirror blind spot monitor indicator, Dual-Sensor Brake Support, rear parking sensors and rear cross traffic alert.

Suzuki expects half of all Swift Hybrid sales will be to fleet and business customers. It also considers it likely that 24 percent of all new Swift sales are likely to be Hybrid models.

The Hybrids are additional to the full range of Swift variants although the 1.2 GLX petrol model is being phased out.