Articles by Tom White

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Our Swift engages in a circa-1000km road trip with us in its second month - exactly the kind of territory where small, city-focused cars like this can fall downSo, how did our GLX Hybrid fare, and what else has cropped up in our extended time behind the wheel?There are some good and bad things as well as a few surprises along the way. Read on to find out what's been happening.We travelled north of our Sydney home to the NSW mid-north coast for a week, allowing plenty of time to explore the local area. The result was a trip of nearly 1000km, which revealed a few things about the car.For example, it’s not just the cabin up front which is tight on storage. It’s the boot, too. Measuring in at 265 litres, it’s not terrible for the class, but if you’re away for a week or more you’ll definitely use the space available.With just two large duffel bags, an Eski (for the beach, of course) and some chairs, we had no room left.Everything else, groceries, bedding, the works, had to be left in the footwell of the back seat, or worse still, on the back seat itself. If you have kids or a pram, I can’t imagine it would be fun to try and pack for a similar trip.We'll often spruik the benefits of a small car for use inside city limits, but it’s unlikely to be a road-trip hero.On the other hand, this little car surprised me with just enough refinement to not get on your nerves on a long trip.Yes, it’s not as quiet as many mid-sized SUVs or more expensive size-up hatchbacks, but it’s also not bad considering its size.The ride is comfortable over a long journey and so are the seats, which are plush enough to have you hopping out after a few hours in a decent state.Still, cabin storage continues to be a sore point. With a frozen Coke and water in the front cupholder, a phone on the charger, and another cabled up to the system in the third rear cupholder, it left only the doors for storage, neither of which could fit our additional 1.25-litre water bottle, which was consigned to the floor. At the end of the day, it’s a city-focused hatch, and not really designed with inter-city running as a primary consideration. But then again, I’ve seen more clever designs in this class, like Honda’s sorely-missed Jazz, which offered a masterclass in city car floor planning.This was a big surprise, because when it comes to hybrids their fuel efficiency benefits can taper off at freeway speeds.This is generally because the way they are geared means the combustion engine gets more use, and the electric motors can do little to help at such velocities, let alone benefit from the recycled energy from regenerative braking which makes them such fuel-sippers in stop-start traffic.Yet, it's here the Swift’s 'not-a-real-hybrid system' comes into its own. Without a hybrid transaxle with tricky variable ratios to work with, and just a lean and efficient pairing of a three-cylinder engine and continuously variable automatic, the freeway portion of our journey had little to no impact on overall fuel consumption.In fact, the sustained higher speeds had the consumption drop by 0.1L/100km to 4.8L/100km.Real hybrid or not, this Suzuki continues to prove you don’t have to overthink the solution.As good as its fuel consumption may be, I find myself refilling this car a little too often. The computer says I get about 650km from a tank, which I have discovered is because the Swift hybrid’s fuel tank is only 37 litres.Sure, it’s less bill shock when you pull up at the pump and only need to put 25 litres in, but there are now electric cars which can travel as far on a single charge.Oh, and the kicker? This hybrid’s new 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine requires mid-shelf 95RON unleaded which undoes some of your efficiency gains when it comes time to pay.Part of our adventures included some curvy hilly roads, which let the Swift put some of its best traits on display. Specifically, its ride and handling.While Chinese automakers focus on packing in features while offering a clean-sheet design aesthetic, Suzuki’s engineers clearly still have their heart on the art of the drive.The Swift isn’t a masterpiece to drive by any stretch of the imagination. This is, after all, an affordable light hatchback with a small efficiency-focused engine. However, considering its price and class, this is a fun little car to steer.The steering is weighted just right while the ride is tight enough to keep it from leaning too hard in the corners, but forgiving enough to not make you cringe every time you see a bump.Grip is middling from the stock Yokohama eco tyres, and sound levels are only okay. But the whole package feels more sophisticated and refined than the previous-gen car.The biggest detractor from the drive experience is, as usual, the continuously variable automatic transmission, which pairs with the mild engine outputs to make for disappointment when powering out of a corner.The little three-cylinder engine might have an agreeably gruff tone, but when you’re foot to the floor it’s happy to make a lot of noise while not much is happening in terms of road speed.It’s easy to imagine how much more fun this car could be with more poke, which makes the death of the GLX Turbo a shame. We can only hope the brand follows this hybrid up with a new Swift Sport, which is always a gem of a car.Overall, I came away from our trip impressed with the Swift. I didn’t have high hopes for the city hatch spending extended time on the open road, but every time I got out of it I didn’t come away feeling fatigued or frustrated.Tune in next month for some final thoughts on the Swift Hybrid, and our farewell video.Acquired: February 2025Distance travelled this month: 1291kmOdometer: 6313kmAverage fuel consumption this month: 4.8L/100km

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Volkswagen and Walkinshaw have confirmed their continued collaboration on the second-gen Amarok will spawn a new variant in 2026.Partially revealed in a shadowy teaser, the new Walkinshaw Amarok appears to share a similar styling overhaul to the original previous-generation collaboration, complete with a larger set of wheels.It's expected to have a similar performance-oriented overhaul, particularly when it comes to suspension and off-road characteristics.Speaking to Australian journalists, CEO and owner of the Walkinshaw Group, Ryan Walkinshaw, said “the design is now locked in,” adding the Australian performance engineering company would now move on to the testing phase which would last the remainder of 2025.The next-gen “W Series” would then be scheduled for release during the course of 2026.Few other details were revealed about the performance-oriented ute, other than the collaboration was plotting “next-level design, performance, and handing”.However, with the Walkinshaw/Volkswagen team-up kicking off much earlier in the second-generation Amarok’s product cycle, Walkinshaw said the collaboration would be much deeper this time around, seemingly with the potential to result in more variations.He said thanks to the longer lifespan of the program the brands could “invest more money” in the project.“So, at the moment, we’ll be launching what you see but if it makes sense in the market and Volkswagen is obviously open to it, you know, we’re always keen to develop other variants and other great products.”Walkinshaw added that reception to the previous-generation road-focused W580, off-road W580X, and final edition W580 SE was positive, and that the scarcity of those variants was one of the main drawbacks of the original program.“So there were a lot of learnings in that initial program for ourselves and for Volkswagen and we can make sure we do the best job of delivering what everyone wants this time around.”Despite Walkinshaw Group now working on a wide variety of projects from the GMSV Chevrolet Silverado right-hand-drive conversion to the new Amarok, Mr Walkinshaw said adding more projects made the business bigger and more efficient.“The new Amarok program actually helps us scale and makes us more efficient, more competitive in the market, so the more programs we add on the more efficient and prospective we become for our customers."So we’re always ambitious to be growing.”The previous-generation Walkinshaw Amarok is now a sought-after limited edition, of which the most popular variant was the street-focused W580 which sold more than 2600 units during its limited production run.The W580 included a wider wheel and tyre package with correspondingly wider fender flares, re-worked suspension and a tweaked exhaust system to add to an overall styling overhaul.It may have disappointed some that the already-punchy 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine didn’t get further performance enhancements, although it’s possible further modifications could be on the table for the second-generation version, which in high-spec versions is powered by a Ford-sourced 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6.From there, the previous-generation W580 was developed into the W580X which focused more on off-road capability, with a 40mm suspension lift complete with twin-tube dampers, bash plates, rock sliders, diff breathers, and an optional factory snorkel.While VW was not yet willing to talk specifics on what changes will be made for the W series Amarok this time around, it would be unsurprising to see the collaboration spawn more than one variant.Sought-after Walkinshaw versions of the second-generation Ford Ranger-based Amarok can’t come soon enough for the German-branded, Australian-designed, and South African-built ute, which as of the first quarter of 2025 is comparatively unloved in Australia’s pantheon of utes.VW has moved 1459 units until the end of March, representing just 2.9 per cent share of the 4x4 ute segment, a 35.8 per cent drop year-on-year.

Volkswagen has unveiled plans to build a next-generation Amarok ute to debut in 2027, but it seems this new version will never see Australian shores.This is because Volkswagen will be using the same Amarok name on an entirely separate product, specifically designed for the South American market.But if a current Ford Ranger-based Amarok is still on your wishlist, fear not, because production of the ute delivered in Australia will continue, with the brand saying: “The existing partnerships for the production of the Amarok in South Africa will remain in place. “In this way, Volkswagen will continue to ensure a reliable supply of vehicles to international markets – while simultaneously pursuing a locally based product strategy tailored to the needs of the Latin American market.”Judging by the wording used, it seems the new South American Amarok won’t be a platform-share vehicle with the Ranger, and will instead be its own bespoke product.As to what this could look like, it is too early to tell, although it would be unsurprising to see the previous-generation Amarok ladder frame live on with a new-generation overhaul. As the brand says, “more than 770,000” units of the previous-generation ute were built in the same Argentinian plant which is earmarked to build the new version in 2027.According to the company, VW is investing 580 million US dollars (nearly A$1 billion) in the new-generation ute, which includes research and development as well as upgrading the Pacheco plant in Argentina.Previous-generation Volkswagens living on in markets where safety and emissions technologies are not as advanced is not a new concept, particularly in South America, where VW has strong domestic production presence.For example, a second facelift of the previous-generation Amarok which never saw Australia is already sold in Brazil and Argentina, which shares styling elements with the Ford Ranger-based and South African-built version sold here.Additionally, it is not the only South-American developed ute Volkswagen sells overseas. It also offers the Polo-based Saveiro, a small monocoque pick-up designed specifically for South American tastes.Because of Volkswagen’s strong manufacturing presence, South American markets have also seen some models live well beyond their global expiry. For example, the second generation Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi which originally launched in 1967 was built and sold in Brazil from 1976 to as late as 2013 receiving various facelifts and more modern engines along the way.While this special Amarok version may never see Australian shores, it’s not to say the nameplate has never had special attention paid to it domestically. The previous-generation version received two locally-overhauled special editions put together by Walkinshaw in partnership with VW Australia which significantly upped its suspension and handling characteristics, whilst also offering a unique styling package and maintaining its hauling and payload specs.The success of this partnership has seen Volkswagen look to renew its partnership with Walkinshaw Group for a spruced-up version of the Australian-delivered second-generation Amarok, which it has previously said should debut in 2025.The new Ranger-based Amarok, however, hasn’t been off to the best start in Australia, having moved just 1459 units to the end of the first quarter of 2025. This represents a market share of just 2.9 per cent when it comes to 4x4 dual cabs, a 35.8 per cent drop year-on-year.

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