Maruti has launched the new Baleno in India with the price ranging between ₹ 6.35 lakh and ₹9.49 lakh (ex-showroom, India). The new Baleno will also be offered with Maruti Suzuki’s subscription scheme, with a monthly fee starting at ₹ 13,999 (including registration, maintenance, insurance and road side assistance).
The new vehicle has been given a significant styling update over the outgoing model. Up front, there is a wider, honeycomb-patterned grille flanked by new wraparound headlights, accompanied by a flatter clamshell bonnet, a re-profiled bumper and new fog light housings. The projector headlights are also wider and have a new three-element LED daytime running lamp signature.
On the side, there are new 16-inch alloy wheels, a sharper shoulder line and a longer chrome strip at the base of the window line that now extends up to the rear quarter glass. The rear features new bumpers and C-shaped LED tail-lights, which extends onto the tailgate.
Inside, the Baleno gets an all-new, three-layered design for the dashboard, which, in the top-spec model, gets a black top, a full-width silver accent in the middle and a dark blue finish at the bottom. This dark blue theme is carried over to the door cards and seat upholstery.
The updated Baleno also gets a new steering wheel, new front seats, new switchgear for climate control and a new design for the instrument cluster design.
The fully loaded Baleno Alpha comes with a 9.0-inch Smartplay Pro+ free-standing touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa support, ‘Suzuki Connect’ connected car tech, a heads-up display (HUD), 360-degree cameras, tilt and telescopic steering adjustment and much more. However, Maruti Suzuki has skipped offering a sunroof.
Powering the new Baleno is a solitary 90hp, 1.2-litre, four-cylinder DualJet K12N petrol engine, which can be had with either a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed AMT automatic gearbox (replacing the older model’s CVT unit). ARAI-claimed fuel economy of the new engine with the manual gearbox is 22.35kpl, while the new AMT returns 22.94kpl.
As with the outgoing model, the new Maruti Suzuki Baleno goes up against premium hatchbacks like the Hyundai i20, Tata Altroz, Honda Jazz, VW Polo and the soon to be updated Toyota Glanza.
