In recent years, we’ve seen a trend of unsafe and poor quality budget vehicles, primarily sourced from the Indian market, flood into South Africa. These products offer basic motoring at a very affordable price and are mostly loathed by the motoring press.
However, one budget car, in this writer’s opinion at least, is worthy of more consideration by local consumers. The car in question is the updated Suzuki Celerio which I received for the obligatory one week test period recently.
Updated Celerio
In June of this year, Suzuki South Africa released the updated Celerio range, which included an exterior makeover with a new front bumper, a revised air intake and new fog light surrounds. In side profile, the Celerio also feature new wheel covers and a revised shoulder line. The rear end now features a new garnish strip.
The interior is also updated with a two-tone colouration of the dashboard and a new pattern used on the cloth seats.
Overall, the interior and exterior have been very mildly tweaked and the Celerio retains its cute outward and back-to-basics interior appearance.
Budget car spec
The model I had on test was the GL, which offers improved specification versus the entry-level GA, but commands a R17 000 premium. For the additional capital outlay, the GL gets a Bluetooth-enabled audio system and USB port, front and rear electric windows, a multi-function steering wheel, electric side mirrors, a tachometer, temperature gauge, cloth inserts on the door cards and 60/40 split folding rear seats.
Despite the premium, the GL is certainly the model to go for as the GA is simply too basic. Although I have to admit, the audio system, despite providing surprisingly good sound quality, it’s simply too aged and frustrating to live with. Besides the infotainment foibles, the GL provides pretty much all you’ll need from basic transportation, and that’s really the essence of budget motoring.
Safety
The elephant in the room when it comes to budget cars in South Africa has been safety, with many a contender in this segment failing to produce acceptable crash test safety scores. This is where the Celerio provides the goods with a three-star Euro NCAP crash test safety rating which was achieved in 2014 with the pre-facelift model.
The acceptable safety score comes as a result of ABS, dual front airbags, a solid passenger safety cell, five seat belts, and childproof rear door locks. This, I feel, is the bare minimum for safety when it comes to budget cars, especially when considering vehicles of this type are generally purchased by a first-time buyer/driver with less experience than most.
Driving Celerio
Like many Suzuki products, the little Celerio is incredibly light on fuel and, thanks to a low kerb weight of 835kg, is quite a fun little thing to drive. Under the bonnet of my press vehicle was the K10B 1.0-litre naturally aspirated motor with 55kW/90Nm of torque. My test unit was (thankfully) the five-speed manual and not the five-speed automated manual transmission (AMT).
Suzuki claims a fuel consumption figure of 4.7-litres/100km, but thanks to some rather spirited driving on my part, the car registered a figure of 5.1-litres/100km, throughout my weeklong test. In the ride and handling department, the small Suzuki is rather fun to throw around but does exhibit a top-heavy feeling when pressing on, while the wind noise and cabin intrusion at speed is quite noticeable.
Verdict
At R156 900, which includes a two-year/60 000km service plan and five-year/200 000km mechanical warranty, the Celerio is my current pick amongst the budget car contenders currently on sale.
