New Maruti Suzuki Baleno Production Started: May Get 5-Star Safety Rating

The picture of the new Baleno at the production plant was shared by automotive enthusiast, Milind Patel on social media. The new Maruti Suzuki Baleno features an updated interior, exterior and may even get better quality sheet metal.

This means the Maruti Suzuki may start selling the current Baleno through its Arena dealerships throughout India. That being said, Maruti Suzuki sells its vehicles through two types of retail showrooms; Arena and Nexa, where Nexa showrooms are aimed to give customers a more premium experience.

Like the current generation Baleno, Maruti Suzuki will be selling the updated version of the Baleno through its Nexa dealerships across the country.

Though Maruti Suzuki is still the undisputed sales champion in India by quite some margin, the brand has been experiencing some decline in sales and when compared to sales of other brands, it is clear that the Japanese brand is starting to lose some of its sales to newer cars in the market.

Speaking about the upcoming updated Baleno, the updated Maruti Suzuki Baleno sports a more premium looking exterior and interior as well.

According to sources, the updated Baleno also features a new 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with new operating system which has been developed along compete with Toyota.

Apart from this, the updated Maruti Suzuki Baleno is most likely to come with features such as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, wireless charging pad, Suzuki Connect telematics and much more. The updates may even include a fully digital instrument cluster, updated upholstery.

Apart from this, the new Maruti Suzuki Baleno is most likely to feature strengthened underpinnings and better grade steel. This means the new Maruti Suzuki Baleno may even get a 5-star safety rating.

However, there is no information regarding whether there will be any updates in the powertrain of the upcoming updated Baleno. At present, the Maruti Suzuki Baleno is available with two choices of engines, in which one of them is partially electrified.

The 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated K12 petrol engine produces a healthy 82bhp and 113Nm of torque. Whereas the 1.2-litre Dualjet petrol engine produces lightly more power at 89bhp, however, the torque output remains identical.

Both engines come mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox as standard, however, the CVT automatic gearbox can only be had with a VVT engine. In the updated Maruti Suzuki Baleno, the Indo-Japanese brand may ditch the CVT in favour of the AMT gearbox.

We expect the new Baleno to be priced competitively yet slightly more premium to the existing model.

Thoughts About The New Maruti Suzuki Baleno

Though Maruti Suzuki is still at the top of the sales chart, it is a fact that its competitors are catching up fast with newer launches and despite having a lesser number of Nexa dealerships, Maruti Suzuki Baleno is one of the best selling hatchbacks in the country.

However, the updated Maruti Suzuki Baleno is crucial for the brand to stay at the top of its game.

Source: Milind Patel