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Suzuki insists the Swift is safe after calls to ban used imports

Author
Newstalk ZB ,
Publish Date
Tue, 18 Jun 2019, 4:50PM
Older models of the Suzuki Swift may be banned from being imported. (Photo / Supplied)

Suzuki insists the Swift is safe after calls to ban used imports

Author
Newstalk ZB ,
Publish Date
Tue, 18 Jun 2019, 4:50PM

Suzuki have mounted a defence of the Swift.

Pre-2016 models of the popular car may be banned from being imported due to their low safety ratings.

While new swifts have a four star rating under the ANCAP system, the 2011 model has a one-star rating in the official used car safety ratings

However, Gary Collins, General Manager of automobile marketing at Suzuki New Zealand, denied they are death traps.

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the 2011 to 2017 Swifts, when sold as a new car in New Zealand, had a five-star safety rating.

"That model included TFC and seven airbags which was high specifications for what was on the market."

Collins says that they don't have the data to show how the imported used car safety record is determined, but it does not have the same specifications as the new rating.

A number of car owners have been calling Suzuki over the last 24 hours to clarify if their car is safe, and Collins says, by all international safety ratings, the new cars are very safe. 

"There's been a lot of information that's gone out there. The Swift has been an extremely popular car second hand, so it seems to be a vehicle that has come up in the conversation greatly."

 

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