It sounds like something which would appeal particularly to vegetarians, but this latest baby from Suzuki is going to go down well with anyone who wants plain and simple motoring.
Yes, it may sound like something youâd pick from the vegetable patch or stick in your Bloody Mary but according to the PR people, Celerio stands for âcelestial river in the skyâ. It may be new in the UK, but the name has been on Suzukis in Japan for some time on the model it is replacing here, the Alto. Their other city car, the Splash, is also being dropped from the range.
The Suzuki line up has been reduced to five vehicles â the successful Swift and S-Cross, the surprisingly agile Jimny, the Celerio and the soon-to-be- revitalised Vitara, without the larger Grand version.
The Celerio is entering the competitive mini segment which accounts for around 219,000 cars in the UK each year and will be pitted against the value for money equivalents of the likes of the Kia Picanto, and the Hyundai i10 and the design and style of the Fiat 500, the Ford Fiesta and a trio of small city cars from Toyota, Citroen and Peugeot.
But the Celerioâs birth wasnât plain sailing. After a motoring magazine experienced a âconditionâ while carrying out an emergency braking test on a private road test facility ahead of the launch, Suzuki investigated and almost immediately issued a safety recall and suspended sales in the UK â just a day after it officially went on sale.
The recall related to a possible fault in the brake pedal release mechanism and any of the first 150 customers whoâd already taken delivery of their cars had to return them to the dealers but had to wait for some weeks to have modified brake components fitted.
That sort of incident is a nightmare for a car company and particularly unfortunate for one like Suzuki which has a great reputation for reliability.
Itâs a bad start but one from which Suzuki will recover because the Celerio is a little cracker.
Itâs the best in its class for interior and boot space, is very fuel efficient and even the SZ3 entry level comes with loads of standard equipment such as aircon, alloy wheels, DAB radio, USB and Bluetooth connectivity which you just donât get on similar cars, even as an option.
At launch the car comes only with a small but impressive three-cylinder 1 litre petrol engine with manual gearbox but that will be followed by a brand new 1 litre Dualjet power unit returning economy of 78mpg and CO2 emissions of just 84g/km. There will also be a new AGS (Auto Gear Shift) gearbox which has an intelligent shift control actuator on top of the transmission which operates the gearshift and clutch automatically.
I got hold of an early model with AGS and itâs perfectly acceptable and great for tootling about town in stop-go traffic, but I would have thought for most people the cheaper manual transmission would be the best choice.
Build quality inside feels good and thereâs plenty of elbow room for two adults in the front. Itâs one of only two cars in the segment that has seating for five as standardâŚ.although three adults in the back would find it a wee bit of a squeeze.
Outside the front ends looks good â a bit reminiscent of the Fiat Panda â with continuous headlamps and grille but the back end is less interesting.
But itâs the cost of ownership which is the real winner for this car. Low fuel running costs and insurance, zero Vehicle Excise Duty and high residual values make this a great buy as a second car for family use around the city.
CAR: Suzuki Celerio SZ3 1.0 petrol manual
PRICE: ÂŁ7,999
POWER: 998cc 3 cylinder petrol
PERFORMANCE: Top speed 96 mph 0-62 mph 13.5 secs
MPG: 65 mpg combined
CO2 EMISSIONS: 99 g/km
TT Rating:
