“Thank goodness for that,” was our first statement after viewing the all-new Suzuki Swift at the Japanese company’s Ryuyo Proving Ground 250 kilometres west of Tokyo (by way of a bullet train moving at over 300 km/h!).

That’s because the Suzuki Swift’s stylists have resisted the temptation to pen an altogether different shape and have instead have come up with a solid evolution of the existing very successful body. That body was introduced in 2004 and was one of the first to take the currently fashionable ‘chop-top‘ direction by using a downward slope for the full length of the roof allied to a high waistline.

The most noticeable changes to the body shape are to the headlights and taillights, which are larger and less angular than previously.

Wheel sizes have been increased from 14 and 15 inches, to 15 and 16 inches to tie in with the current fashion for large diameter wheels.

The Swift’s design leans towards the Euro style and owners of the previous model frequently tweaked the shape with different wheels, body kits and racing stripes to give it individuality. Indeed, many regard the Suzuki Swift as a low-cost alternative to the BMW Mini, Citroen DS3 and Audi A1 in the dress-up stakes - high praise indeed for the little Japanese machine.

The body of the all-new Suzuki Swift is slightly larger than that of the old, with an extended wheelbase and track to make for slightly more interior room. The back seat now provides reasonable legroom and there’s plenty of headroom. The front seats have been increased in size and provide good grip, though you wouldn't really describe them as being sporty in nature.

Engine design in the Suzuki Swift also takes the European direction in being smaller than the previous unit, at 1.4 litres instead of 1.5. Only a small amount of power and torque has been sacrificed (down from 74 kW and 132 Nm, to 70 kW and 130 Nm), but emissions and fuel consumption have been cut by around 13 per cent when measured on the official driving cycle.

With a five-speed manual gearbox petrol consumption is now 5.5 litres per hundred kilometres, with the four-speed automatic transmission the result is a bit higher at 6.2 litres per hundred kilometres. The auto is an old design and this results in the significant difference between it and the manual gearbox. Though Suzuki engineers won’t confirm it, it seems likely a new five- or six-speed automatic will be introduced reasonably soon.

At this stage our testing of the new Swift has been confined to running on what is virtually a full-on race track. In fact, the circuit was used for development work by the Suzuki 500cc motorcycle racing team for many years. So we can report that the little Suzuki handles brilliantly, with a nicely neutral feel and can easily be controlled by the throttle. The engine is smooth at normal revs but is a little harsher than anticipated when it approaches its 6500 rpm redline.

That’s an area of the rev band that will only be used by sporting drivers. At this stage Suzuki won’t reveal if a Sport variant of the Swift will be introduced, but it seems likely given the success of that model in the previous lineup.

What we can’t report is how the Swift handles in traffic, on the open road or when climbing steep hills. Nor do we have any information on its ability to handle rough surfaces. All that will have to wait until the Australian launch of the all-new Suzuki Swift in Melbourne early in February 2011, but we have little doubt hat the new model will be every bit a good as the about to be superseded one.

Prices and model details are yet to be set, but it’s likely new Suzuki Swift will be sold for much the same prices as currently and will be offered in GL and GLX variants. This means the price list is likely to start at around $16,000 and top out about $24,000.