Safety discrepancies between Suzuki Swift hatchbacks sold in Australia and Europe have been resolved following a one-star ANCAP crash-test score.
A popular option for first car buyers has been given a safety upgrade after Australian versions were handed a one-star ANCAP rating due to discrepancies in its crash-test performance.
The Suzuki Swift has received a three-star ANCAP safety rating for models built from August 2025 onwards, with its safety specification now aligned with previously higher-scoring European versions.
In December 2024, ANCAP confirmed a one-star result for the current-generation Swift after local testing revealed safety differences to European versions tested by its Euro NCAP counterpart, specifically crash-test results for adult and child occupant protection.
ANCAP chief executive officer Carla Hoorweg said "the design of some of the structural elements and restraints in locally-sold Swift vehicles appear to lack robustness, leading to variation in crash performance".
While a list of detailed changes has not been provided by ANCAP or Suzuki Australia, comparing the technical reports between the one-star and three-star results reveals improvements to its adult and child occupant protection scores.
For adult occupant protection, 'Good' protection is listed for the driver's feet, instead of the outgoing model's 'Poor' score with concerns about rearward pedal movement, going from the lowest possible ranking to the highest possible.
ANCAP has now awarded a score for the full-width frontal crash-test as there is 'Marginal' protection for the chest of the rear passenger, rather than its previous 'Poor' score, when no marks were given due to chest compression exceeding injury limits.
The Swift continues to omit a front-centre airbag – a standard feature in the MG 3, Toyota Yaris and Volkswagen Polo – to reduce head clashes in side-impact collisions, resulting in it missing up to four extra points offered in far-side impact testing.
However, the structural changes have resulted in the Swift presenting a "moderate" risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle in a head-on collision, rather than a "lower risk", with a higher 2.05 point penalty applied instead of 1.00 points.
Adult occupant protection is rated at 67 per cent, 20 per cent higher than the outgoing model's 47 per cent result, now meeting the requirements for a three-star score under ANCAP's testing criteria.
For the six-year-old dummy in child occupant protection testing, the protection of the head is now rated as 'Marginal' and 'Weak', instead of the outgoing model's 'Poor' result, which pushes its overall mark to 65 per cent, up from 59 per cent.
While there are no changes to the 76 per cent it achieved for vulnerable road user protection, the actual score of 48.00 out of a possible 63 is lower than the outgoing model's result of 48.40.
Suzuki has added a driver monitoring system to the Swift in Australia, however, it only added 0.25 extra points to its safety assistance score, taking it from 54 per cent to 55 per cent.
Its safety assistance score remains below the 62 per cent achieved in Europe, as local versions lack intelligent speed limit assistance, however, its score in all other categories is now identical between Australia and Europe.
A Suzuki Australia spokesperson told Drive there are no pricing or specification changes for the 2025 Swift beyond the safety differences.
"The updated ANCAP 3-star rating reflects changes to the Australian spec Swift, which now incorporates the same safety reinforcements as the Euro-spec model," the spokesperson added.
"The Euro spec vehicle included additional front-end reinforcements that were not present in the earlier Australian-spec version. These reinforcements have now been applied to Australian models."
The updated 2025 Swift will go on sale in Australia this month.
Suzuki Australia's website lists the entry-level Swift manual at $24,990 drive-away, the Swift automatic at $27,490, the Swift Plus automatic at $28,990, and the Swift GLX at $30,990.
The one-star result for the Swift was the third-lowest score from ANCAP under its current and most stringent 2023-2025 testing criteria, following zero-star results for the MG 5 sedan and Mahindra Scorpio off-road SUV in December 2023.
Like the Swift, MG has since revised the MG 5's safety specifications, achieving a three-star result, while the Scorpio will receive crash-avoidance features such as autonomous emergency braking by the end of the year, which should elevate its ANCAP score.
"ANCAP’s role as consumer advocate is to hold manufacturers to account, and where safety deficiencies are seen, to push for improvements that help prevent deaths and reduce serious injuries," Hoorweg added.
As detailed here, a four-star ANCAP result has been confirmed for the Swift-rivalling 2025 MG 3 hatchback following safety upgrades, replacing its earlier three-star score.
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
