I've just got back from the Suzuki Celerio launch. It turned out to be far more interesting than I'd imagined, since the car has just been withdrawn from the UK market after precisely one day on sale, following a disastrous
Autocar test
. You might even say, "I'm a Celerio, get me out of here!"
Anyhow, while not doing 80mph brake tests in a Celerio, I had a long chat with the chaps at Suzuki. They have been scratching their heads as to why the talented, much-loved, multi-award winning Swift Sport is selling a disappointing 1,100 units a year in the UK.
The suggestion was that perhaps there might be some very generous offers around on the Ford Fiesta ST. Great car though the Swift Sport is, few would argue that the Fiesta ST, which we loved when we had one on (short) long-term loan, wipes the tarmac with it on pretty much every score.
We all love it, and it's cheap too!
Not a fair comparison, you cry, and with some justification. After all, the Swift and the Fiesta ST are way apart in terms of list price, with entry-level points of £13,999 and £17,395 respectively. But after a bit of digging, you start to understand why the sporty Swift might be suffering at the hands of the feisty Fiesta.
On a new Swift Sport, the best deal I could find at a franchised dealer was £500 off, bringing the price down to £13,499. Not bad - but it didn't take me very long to uncover some truly excellent deals on the Fiesta ST.
The lowest price I've come across is for a boggo standard ST three-door, in a rather fetching shade of orange, on sale at Arnold Clark Ford in Hexham. With just 15 miles on the clock, it's obviously in brand-new condition. And it can be yours for £14,988 - very much within spitting distance of the Sport. If there's a catch, it's that the car was registered in September 2014, so its three-year warranty has already been ticking away for some time.
ST-2, 15 miles, £16,495. Tempting...
If you prefer your Fiesta to be better equipped (and almost all ST buyers do, in practice), you'll want one of the plusher ST-2 or ST-3 models. Let's start with the ST-2 (which adds heated part-leather Recaros, projector headlights with LEDs and privacy glass). A Ford dealer in Lancashire is offering a brand new,
2015 ST-2
for £16,495. And if you finance the car using Ford Credit, it will even give you an extra £500 off, taking the price down to £15,999.
The same dealer is offering the ST-3 (with sat nav, keyless entry, cruise, auto lights/wipers, climate and power-fold mirrors) brand new at £1,081 off list, or in other words £18,739. The same offer of an extra £500 off if you opt for Ford Credit applies to this too.
I can't think of any other new car that offers more fun at this price level - a level which is now uncomfortably close to junior hot hatches like the Swift Sport.