Days Before Launch i20-Rival Maruti Baleno Spotted at a Dealership

Hatchback. The term to the average Indian car buyer, till only a couple of years back, meant small relatively cramped cars. All that is changing slowly and the bigger, more comfortable hatchbacks have become a reality. People accepted the idea with open arms and if a sub-segment is successful how can Maruti be far behind!

In comes the Baleno, a premium hatchback by the country’s largest car maker. While the car is expected to launch on October 26, 2015, it was spotted recently at a dealer stockyard by the folks at The Automotive India in two colors.

Suzuki Baleno 3

Set to be available exclusively at the Nexa outlets just like S-Cross, Baleno is Maruti’s third attempt to go premium. The petrol engine is the 1.2 K-series mill while the diesel is the same 1.3 litre multijet diesel sourced from Fiat but shockingly there is no VGT 90 PS trim! 1.0 Liter turbocharged Boosterjet petrol engine is expected to come later.

Baleno will fight it out against the Jazz and Elite i20 and will sit over Swift in terms of placement. Lookwise, the car doesn’t excite however, Maruti will want to harp on their brand name and an aggressive price and it may pose a serious threat to some and may eat up certain volumes from the sibling Swift as well.

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