Best end of Japanese financial year deals: Hatchbacks

Perfect for the city and suburbs, but with legs long enough to gobble up country miles, hatchbacks are still as popular as ever and the end of the Japanese financial year is the best time to get an extra squeeze on pricing.

There are great deals on some Japanese hatchbacks from now through March – the end of the financial year for Japan – as dealers clear stock. Here’s a few of the best hatch deals at the moment that are available today and the weekend in the lead up to the end of June.

Suzuki is first out the blocks with the Swift on sale, priced from $20,990 including on-road costs for the GL Navigator that includes a satellite navigation system among its features. That is a $3209 discount to the normal price which equates to a decent 13 per cent chop that can’t be sneezed at.

This version has a manual gearbox and 1.2-litre engine, though you can cough up an extra $1000 for the automatic at $21,990 drive-away, which is $3251 off the usual price.

There is also the GL Navigator Plus at $23,490 with automatic transmission and on-road costs, down $3318 on the recommended price. This variant has additional features including active cruise control.

Suzuki also has discounted the Swift Sport with the 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine. With manual transmission, it is $30,990 drive-away, saving $1028, and as an automatic, is $32,990, down $1112.

If you want a tad more cabin space, there’s the Suzuki Baleno that starts at $18,490 drive-away, a drop of $2849, with manual transmission and the bigger 1.4-litre engine. The automatic is $19,490, a saving of $2891.

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For more features, the Baleno GLX automatic is also a bargain at $21,990, a drop of $2475. Prices include on-road costs. The sale does not include cars sold in northern NSW and Queensland because those territories have different Suzuki distributors.

Mazda has a deal on only one of its hatches as yet. The Mazda2 G15 Pure, with manual transmission and 1.5-litre petrol engine, is now $22,990 drive-away, a saving of $1525.

The Pure has recently been upgraded with better seats and suspension. Standard equipment includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and 15-inch alloy wheels. Safety equipment includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and lane-keep assist. It has a five-year, unlimited distance warranty and five years of roadside assistance.

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Toyota has included on-road costs for many of its models, including the Corolla with the Ascent Sport manual now $27,746 drive-away, while the automatic is $29,314. The Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid is also now $31,298 on the road.