2017 Kia Rio vs Suzuki Swift

What's the difference?

As it becomes clear they're swimming in a shrinking pool, fish instinctively take up the struggle for available space and oxygen. Suddenly, all bets are off and only the strongest and most competitive manage to rise above an increasingly agitated pack to fight another day.

And so it goes in the Australian new car ecosystem. The 'light' category is still one of the largest in market, where the likes of Hyundai's Accent, the Mazda2, and Toyota's evergreen Yaris live. But the line on the sales chart is ever so consistently heading south.

Year-to-date sales for light cars under $25k are down no less than 20 per cent, and that's on the back of 16 per cent drop over the course of 2016. Meanwhile, medium SUVs are up close to 10 per cent.

So, clearly our automotive tastes are changing, but that big school of little cars is still spinning itself into a frenzy, with an intensifying battle for market share resulting in new and upgraded models offering a seemingly endless stream of advanced technology and ever-lengthening standard equipment lists.

Enter Kia's Rio hatch, the brand's global best-seller, with claimed annual sales "approaching 500,000", which is undoubtedly a big number. But in Australia, the Rio is a middle order player in a light car field of around 15 determined competitors.

Which means the new fourth generation Rio, launched here in January this year, is critical to Kia's chances of grabbing a larger slice of the rapidly diminishing light car pie.

Not surprising then, that the entry-level S model boasts upgraded multimedia connectivity and enhanced safety tech, not to mention improved dynamics and more space. Sounds good, but is it enough to get a jump on the light car big guns?

The Suzuki Swift was a mainstay of the first-new-car market, offering bulletproof reliability, good dynamics and, above all else, accessible pricing.

But then it went from mainstay to just staying. And staying. And staying. In fact, it barely changed between 2005 and 2011, and then changed only a little bit for what Suzuki called its “second generation”.

So, this 2017 all-new model is a pretty big deal. A new platform, new engines and new technology headline the dramatically overhauled Swift line-up, as Suzuki tries to stoke the fires of interest in one of its most enduring and important models.