Suzuki Baleno

Suzuki Baleno is another affordable city car from the Japanese car giant sold in the Australian market. This made-in-India hatchback was launched in Australia in 2016 in GL and GLX Turbo trims, however, the latter was recently replaced by the GLX Automatic. The GL trim was retained and is available in manual and automatic variants, albeit the top-spec GLX comes only with an automatic gearbox. Suzuki’s competitively priced five-door hatchback is available at a starting price point of $15,990 for the base manual, which bumps up to $17,990 for the automatic version. Top-of-the-line GLX grade, available only with automatic transmission comes for $19,990 (all OTR prices). 

Slotted a notch above Swift in terms of size, the Baleno boasts slightly larger proportions than its older sibling. That said, Suzuki Baleno measures 3,995 mm long, 1,745 mm wide and 1,470 mm high. It sits on a 2,520 mm wheelbase and has a ground clearance of 120 mm. The five-door hatchback offers 365 litres cargo space with the rear seats up which can be expanded to 756 litres by folding the seats completely. In terms of styling, it looks an oversized version of Swift with similar-looking face, even though it gets a honeycomb mesh grille with a chrome surround in front, which is a far cry from Swift’s large black-finished pentagon unit. The shape of headlamps is reminiscent of Swift, and the face features air-vents on the lower bumper.  Styling on the sides is somewhat mundane, while the rear gets a short windscreen and a thick chrome strip across the length of the boot. Other bits such as front fog lamps, dusk sensor, rear window washer and wiper, power adjusting wing mirrors and a roof spoiler are standard. While chrome door handles and HID projector headlamps are specific to the top-spec GLX AT grade. 

On the inside, the five-seater hatchback is well spaced out providing comfortable room to passengers seated at the front as well as rear. As for interior features, cruise control, power windows, power door locks, fabric upholstery, leather-wrapped steering wheel, height adjuster for driver’s seat, a 12V power outlet, luggage board, etc. are offered with both the trims. Tilt steering with an additional telescopic function and an automatic air conditioner, are available only with the range-topping grade. It packs a standard audio system with a touchscreen unit supported by Apple CarPlay, satellite navigation, voice command, steering wheel controls, Bluetooth connectivity, etc. 

Both the variants draw power from the 1.4-litre, four-cylinder engine with 68kW of power at 6000 rpm and 130 Nm torque at 4000 rpm. A five-speed manual unit is available only with the base trim and the 4-speed automatic gearbox is standard. On the safety front, the Suzuki Baleno is kitted with standard features such as an engine immobilizer, hill hold control automatic, side airbags, front airbags, curtain airbags, vehicle stability control, traction control, the anti-lock braking system with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist system. Both the variants get 2 ISOFIX anchorages, 3-point ELR at the rear, 3-point ELR with pre-tensioners and load limiters.