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THERE will always be car buyers who simply need basic transport and that's all they are willing to pay for.
It is why the $13,990 drive-away price point has been a staple for the better part of two decades.
While those buyers don't want (or at least need) every luxury available to your Commodore or Camry buyer - let alone a prestige car - they should at least expect a degree of safety and reliability. They haven't always had even that.
So when a brand like Suzuki - which has an enviable reputation for reliability - puts something up for at that price point, it's worth a look. Enter the Suzuki Celerio.
The Celerio is as basic as the modern can be. It has four doors (nominally it is a five-door because of the rear hatch), is powered by an efficient 1.0-litre engine through an equally efficient CVT continuously variable transmission (the , has a simple suspension (MacPherson strut front/torsion bar rear), serviceable seats, and a modest sound system with Bluetooth connectivity. But to be fair, what else does a runabout need?
Well, plenty in my opinion, but we'll get back to that.
The Celerio we collected from Kings Cars was plain white - as whitegoods on wheels as you could possibly ask for. However a closer inspection reveals something far more interesting - the build quality.
Put simply if there is sub-$14,000 car (the five-speed manual is even cheaper at $12,990) which is bolted together as well as the little Suzuki, I don't think I've seen it.
The same can be said of the interior fittings. Yes the manual air conditioning controls, the instrument cluster, the switches and the knobs are basic, but they are also solid and substantial, not cheap and tacky. The seats also feel more comfortable than they ought for the money.
As small as the Celerio is, it is a noticeably bigger car than the tiny Alto it replaced. Even rear leg room is respectable (better than some double-cab utilities I can think of, at any rate).
The three-cylinder engine has a modest output of 50kW peak power and just 90Nm of torque. However it doesn't have to pull much weight so, while you are not going to win any races, the Celerio is spritely enough up to highway speed. That 4.8-litre/100km combined fuel economy rating is going to appeal too.
Even ride and handling - sometimes an afterthought at the bottom end of the market - is more than acceptable. It is no sports car, or even a hot hatch, but cornering feels consistent and safe. There is a level of body roll when passing through a roundabout but less than most micro-SUVs. In short (an appropriate word under the circumstances) the little Celerio is a cinch to drive.
One minor oversight given the little Suzi's natural habitat (car parks and city streets) is the absence of parking sensors, let alone a reversing camera. Having said that, at just 3.6m in length, parking should not be too much of a challenge.
Compared with the original $13,990 econo-boxes of the 1990s the Celerio does have some nifty features: there is a handy trip computer including a distance to empty estimate, steering wheel mounted phone controls and some clever storage bins.
And that's the rub: the Celerio is not just a cheap car, it also feels like a decent one. Even $13,990 drive away buyers deserve that.
Your local dealer is Kings Cars: 5338 4000
Suzuki Celerio
- ENGINE: 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol
- POWER: 50kW at 6000 revs
- TORQUE: 90Nm at 3500 revs
- TRANSMISSION: CVT automatic
- DRIVE: front-wheel-drive
- FUEL: petrol, 4.8-l/100km (ADR 81/02)
- BRAKES: ventilated discs front, drum rear with ABS, brake assist and stability control
- FEATURES: manual air-conditioning, four-speaker audio system with CD player, USB input and Bluetooth connectivity, trip computer, power windows, 14-inch steel wheels
- PRICE AS TESTED: $13,990 drive away
- OTHERS TO CONSIDER
- HOLDEN BARINA SPARK: from $12,890
- MITSUBISHI MIRAGE ES: from $11,490
- NISSAN MICRA ST: from $13,490