Category: City Cars 
Price Range: £5,999 to £8,750
Good fuel economy and low emissions, low insurance and tax, should be tough and durable, good headroom, no-frills ethos
Poor refinement, dated feel, dull and cheaply-finished cabin, slow performance.
Cheap, and feels it; verve-free and devoid of any charisma, the Alto is outclassed and there are better choices out there.
Suzuki's Alto has been one of the cheapest cars on sale in Western Europe for nearly 30 years, but here in 2009 it faces some tough competition. With more choice than ever at the entry-level end of the new car market, this budget five-door runaround now has to impress on style and comfort as well as keeping running costs to a minimum.
The new three-cylinder 996cc petrol engine is certainly economical, and both tax and insurance will be affordable. But sadly, this seventh-generation Alto is in no way as eye-catching as the sporty and attractive A-Star concept which preceded it and its dull, dated interior is well below class standards in its quality and short on any feel-good or fashion factor.
Not that the Alto is actually particularly cheap these days, anyway. With a starting price of £6,795, it's up against the likes of the heavily-discounted Citroen C1, Peugeot 107, Fiat Panda, Renault Twingo, Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto and Volkswagen Fox, and once you step up a trim level or two, in the same territory as the Toyota Aygo and Ford Ka. And all of the above are not only better-looking, more substantial-feeling and better-finished, but more refined to ride in and considerably less joyless to drive.
Suzuki has shown that it can make good small cars, but this Alto is not the advance on its predecessor that it could have been. It has not been developed in the same way as the now-commendable Swift supermini, nor does it have the same character, credibility and all-round abilities of the only marginally larger and little more expensive Splash mini-MPV (aka Vauxhall Agila, Chevrolet Spark). Suzuki missed the mark with this one.
