Live from the launch: Suzuki Swift

Suzuki's Swift is a strange car in many ways - there are not many to be seen on UK roads in comparison to rivals from Ford, Vauxhall, and after the recent scrappage scheme, Hyundai, but it is the cornerstone of the Japanese brand's existence on these shores.

That might explain why the latest model, which we are driving today, is so unchanged in comparison to the previous version. Why take the risk of making dramatic changes to a model that is so important to the brand?

We would have preferred the Swift to have had more than the minor tweaks to the lights and bumpers, to set it apart from the existing car. Even though it is a good looking little beast, with its distinctive curved rump, it will start to look dated at the end of this car's life in about six years time.