Maruti Suzuki to launch Baleno hatchback in India soon

The all-new Suzuki Baleno hatchback, which was revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show today, will be the next big launch from Maruti Suzuki India. The hatchback (codename YRA), for which production has begun at Maruti Suzuki India’s NCR plant, is likely to hit Indian showrooms in the next few weeks.

The Baleno will be the second Maruti car, after the S-Cross, to be sold from the recently launched Nexa premium showrooms. In India, the Baleno will take on the Hyundai Elite i20 and the Honda Jazz. Sales of the Baleno will start in Europe next year with cars shipped from India, thereby becoming an important export model for Maruti Suzuki.

Speaking at the car’s reveal, Toshihiro Suzuki, president, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), said: “The Baleno stands out in terms of styling and utility as well as in terms of both driving and environmental performance. It is a car that will go beyond — in all areas — what people have come to expect in a compact car.”

According to Toshihiro Suzuki, SMC plans to launch 20 new models over the next 5 years globally. It will also enter different segments.

 The India-specific car is will not be very different from the model showcased in Frankfurt. The Baleno is a global model and will slot above the popular Swift hatchback. Its styling is also similar to the current-generation Suzuki offerings sold globally. It sits on an all-new platform that will also underpin the new Maruti YBA compact SUV and the next-generation Swift. 

Suzuki Motor Corporation says to create the new, bar-raising hatchback that is fun to drive and engineered to meet today’s consumers’ needs, it wanted to take the compact car to the ultimate level. According to the Baleno’s chief engineer Kunihiko Ito: “We set our sights on developing the ideal hatchback, one that makes no compromises, giving it an elegant, sophisticated and grown-up character. The Baleno perfectly embodies all the elements expected in a car of this size — design, utility, comfort, manoeuvrability, superior driving performance, and fuel efficiency.”

The Baleno measures 3995mm in length, 1745mm in width and is 1470mm tall, improving on the Swift's length and width of 3,850mm and 1,695mm respectively. Boot space too is larger at 355 litres.

High style quotient
On the styling front, the headlamps are placed at extreme corners, the grille gets the trademark Suzuki shape and there's a prominent V-shaped chrome surround at the bottom. The front bumper is conservative and gets a wide air-intake inlet. Higher-spec variants of the Baleno will get daytime running lamps and LED tail-lamps – a first from Maruti for India.

From the side, the Baleno’s profile looks elegant and the roof line slightly tapers towards the back along with wraparound windows, similar to the one seen on the Mercedes-Benz A-class. This translates to a sporty look when viewed from the rear three-quarters. 

The Maruti Baleno’s front cabin features a neat, uncluttered dashboard design. It gets silver accents on the centre console. Higher trims are likely to come with a 7-inch SmartPlay infotainment system. At the centre of the instrument panel is an LCD screen. The infotainment system will be equipped with Apple CarPlay as well – a first for any car in India.  There's a separate circular digital display for the HVAC controls. The Baleno for international markets comes with adaptive cruise control as well. However, it remains to be seen if this makes its way in the Indian model. 

Baleno power: 1.2 petrol & 1.3 diesel
Powering the Baleno will be Suzuki’s new 1.0-litre Boosterjet turbo-petrol motor developing 110bhp and 17.33 kgm of torque for international markets. In India, however, the familiar 1.2-litre petrol and the 1.3-litre diesel in 89bhp DDiS 200 guise will be launched first, and the Boosterjet-equipped model will follow later. The 1.2-litre petrol model will also come with an option of a CVT gearbox for the first time. The diesel-engined Baleno is likely to come to India with the newly launched SHVS fuel-saving technology as standard. 

Expect Maruti Suzuki India to price the Baleno competitively, as it has done with the Ciaz sedan. The company, which is the country’s largest carmaker, currently has a 53 percent market share in the Indian passenger car market. Of the top 10 cars sold in the Indian market in August 2015, Maruti currently has 5 models (Alto, swift, Dzire, Wagon R and the Celerio).    

With increasing competition, it will be looking to maintain its growth momentum with the Baleno.

In 2014-15, Maruti Suzuki sold a total of 1,170,702 cars in the domestic market, recording a year-on-year growth of 11.11 percent. On the export front, it shipped 121,701 units, a YoY growth of 20 percent. The company has targeted sales of 2 million cars by the year 2020, with plans to obtain 10 percent of its total sales from its premium cars and 10 percent from export volumes. The new Baleno will be expected to be play a key role towards achieving that target.