2015 Maruti Suzuki Baleno – A Premium Hatchback

India has long gotten over its aversion for premium hatchbacks. If it's worth the money, Indians do pay. A new addition to the hatchback line-up in India is the 2015 Baleno, the design philosophy behind the new Maruti Suzuki Baleno hatchback is called Liquid Flow. Maruti's first premium hatchback Baleno will be sold through its Nexa dealer chains and bring back the name 'Baleno' to the Indian market. Maruti is expected to launch its premium hatchback in India on 26 October. Maruti Nexa, the new experience of buying and selling, is a destination for premium cars. Currently, Nexa retails Maruti's premium crossover S-Cross and the next in the line-up to join the floors is the Baleno.



The styling is quite sober though and the highlight is the sweeping shoulder line. The new design gives it styling distinct from the rest of the Maruti Suzuki line-up. There’s the blackened A, B and C-pillars that give it a floating roof, a sporty roof spoiler and an all-new grille that is away from the typical grille designs we have seen from Maruti Suzuki so far. The Maruti Baleno also gets LED DRLs and projector beam headlights on the range topping models. The Maruti Baleno hatchback measures 3,995mm in length, which is the same as the Hyundai Elite i20. The premium hatchback has a ground clearance of 180 mm.



Under the Bonnet of Maruti Baleno will be 1.2-liter VVT petrol and 1.3-liter DDiS diesel mills. While the petrol variant of Baleno can churn out 83bhp at 6,000 rpm and 115 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm, the diesel trim will be tuned to pump out 74bhp at 4,000 rpm and 190 Nm of torque at 2,000 rpm. The transmission will be taken care of by a 5-Speed manual and a CVT. What's significant in the entire Baleno line-up though, is that every variant comes standard with dual airbags, ABS and EBD as standard.



The cabin design is all new too. It comes with a 4.2-inch multi information colour display in the instrumentation and a 7-inch touch screen infotainment system with the Suzuki SmartPlay interface that also gets a reversing camera and an integrated satellite navigation system. The vehicle also supports the Apple CarPlay smartphone interface, which is first in class along with the Siri integration. The knobs, AC controls and switches are all-new too. The cabin also gets a tinted glasshouse that cuts out the UV rays. All black interiors similar to the Maruti Swift and it lends a classy tone to the cabin.



The Baleno isn't bad at anything, but not brilliant either. All Maruti Suzuki reveals as of now is that the Baleno will only be sold through Nexa dealerships. The Baleno will be offered in 4 variants namely; Sigma, Delta, Zeta, and Alpha. The price is expected to be within the range of ₹6-9 Lakhs.