According to Suzuki, the new, sixth-generation Swift supermini is set to be a better UK seller than its predecessor. Partly because the segment has seen the withdrawal of rivals such as the Ford Fiesta, and partly because, amid a motoring landscape rapidly shifting to EVs, it says there is still demand from its customers for a small petrol car. We were impressed by the entry-level Motion equipment grade at the international launch, and now we’ve had the chance to sample the range-topping Ultra grade on UK roads.

For an extra £1,100, the Ultra spec offers kit such as polished alloy wheels, automatic air conditioning, and electric folding door mirrors. On climbing aboard, we liked the funky-looking steering wheel, but were less sure about the sort of bathmat-look (though hard to the touch) trim that’s dotted around the cabin, though at least it shows an effort to be interesting on the designers’ part. We would also like a driver’s seat armrest, and an all-plastic dash is perhaps disappointing for a range-topping model.

Unlike with many small cars these days there’s no full digital driver display, but you do get a small display between the dials that provides sat-nav instructions. A 9in infotainment touchscreen, standard throughout the range, is highly responsive to touches and straightforward to use, as are the welcome physical ventilation controls.

At 3,860mm long the Swift is short for a supermini, but rear legroom is decent, while only very tall adults will have headroom complaints. The boot has a fairly high lip, but is nice and deep, which makes it seem larger than its official 265-litre capacity.

The Swift is good fun to drive around town and on twisty roads, flowing nicely between bends with a great feeling of lightness and agility – helped both by suspension upgrades compared with the previous model, and the fact that a 949kg kerb weight is around 100kg lighter than typical rivals. It makes us hope for the future return of the Swift Sport variant, since this car could clearly be the basis for a cracking hot hatch with more power. As it is, the 1.2-litre, 82hp petrol engine (which has assistance from a 12V mild hybrid system) offers okay acceleration but nothing more than that, and can require a bit of work with the manual gearbox to get up hills, though it will be fine for most drivers’ likely mainly urban requirements, and you do get a fun thrummy engine note. The engine also needs to be worked quite hard to get up to motorway speeds, where a fair amount of road and wind noise is also audible.

Ride quality is decent – not velvet smooth, but the suspension works well to take the edge off bumps, helped by that lightness again meaning less mass with which to thud into potholes. The brakes perform well too.

Overall, the new Swift has plenty to commend it, and looks good value compared with rivals. Whether the Ultra version is worth the extra money over the Motion grade will depend on how much individuals value the extra kit on offer, but whichever model is chosen should suit town and country-based drivers nicely.

Suzuki Swift 1.2 Mild Hybrid Ultra

P11D: £19,579

Residual value: 47.8%  

Depreciation: £9,975

Fuel: £5,944

Service, maintenance and repair: £1,973

Cost per mile: 29.82p

Fuel consumption: 64.2mpg

CO2 (BIK %): 99g/km (24%) 

BIK 20/40% a month: £78/£157

Luggage capacity: 265 litres

Engine size/power: 1,197cc/82hp