Where will Suzuki PH source next-generation Swift?
With Suzuki’s Rayong plant closing, Suzuki PH may source the Swift elsewhere
Last week, Suzuki officially announced they will be closing down their Rayong plant in Thailand by the end of 2025. With it, Suzuki Thailand will switch to an importer/distributor business model in The Land of Smiles.
While it seems this will not affect us in a big way, it will actually affect where Suzuki Philippines will source the Swift in the future. That’s because we currently source the (outgoing) third-generation Swift from the Rayong plant. But with the facility set to shut its doors by the end of 2025, this will likely put Suzuki Philippines in a conundrum.
Given the situation, we asked one of our contacts from the company how Suzuki Philippines will tackle this in the not-so-distant future. Speaking with our insider, they told us that there is no final discussion yet regarding this particular issue. However, they did say that they can source the Swift from other countries. But this will still depend on what the head office decides in the long run.
Currently, the fourth generation Swift is now being sold in Japan, Europe, and most recently in India. It’s now being manufactured in two places; at the company’s Makinohara facility in Japan and in Manesar at Maruti Suzuki’s India factory. That means there’s a possibility of Suzuki Philippines sourcing the all-new hatchback from either of the two facilities.
However, we’re leaning towards Suzuki Philippines sourcing the next-generation Swift from Maruti. Should this happen, this will not be the first time the automaker will source the Swift from India. Several years ago, Suzuki Philippines used to offer the second generation Swift with a 1.4-liter engine which was made in Japan. They then switched to Maruti-sourced Swift units that are powered by a 1.2-liter engine to make the hatchback more competitively priced against competitors.
With Suzuki’s Rayong plant living on borrowed time, we’re curious about where Suzuki will decide to source the all-new Swift for the Philippine market should they decide to launch it here. But given that Japan-source units are more expensive to ship and the fact that Suzuki Philippines already sources several Maruti units like the S-Presso, Celerio, Dzire, and five-door Jimny, it will not come as a surprise if the next-gen Swift could come from India.
