Character has been one of things that Japanese and Korean car companies have found most difficult to design into their cars - you could argue that despite its success Toyota has rarely managed it, although Nissan definitely has and Kia is on the way to managing it having cheekily hired the former design chief at Audi.
Suzuki has found it difficult to build cars with which buyers can establish an emotional as well as a practical attachment (at least since the crazy SC100 Whizzkid of the late 1970s). The most crucial sector to get it right in is the city car sector - it's by far the most fashion-led segment of the market short of supercar territory, and image is everything.
Fortunately the Japanese company's latest Alto city car is a cute little thing. Its doe-eyed face might be too feminine for some tastes, but it does serve to give the car some character and interest amongst some tough competition. It is definitely an improvement on recent Suzukis.
This is definitely budget motoring however - there aren't many bits of equipment that come as standard with the car and you can tell straight away that the small interior has been built down to a price. Having said that, go for a car nearer the middle of the range and you do get things like air conditioning thrown in too.
Whilst there is plenty enough room up front, the rear seats are really restricted to children only. The boot is tiny too; for anything bigger than a weekly supermarket shop you'd probably end up having to put the seats down.
The car drives with enthusiasm, though - it is simply and lightly engineered, so the steering feels direct and the perky 1.0-litre engine doesn't have to work too hard to get the car moving. In fact, it all feels quite nippy around town and doesn't disgrace itself further afield either.
The suspension has been set up comfortably enough to make long journeys much less of a chore than they would be in some rival cars, and external noise has been quietened down to a dull roar that is actually bearable over bigger distances.
The Suzuki Alto has successfully managed the graduation from cheerless transport for those to whom the price was the most important thing no matter how bad the car was, to a cheerful, zesty little number that is genuinely likeable and can definitely win sales on merit alone. The price just seals the deal.