[Sherlocked]

Even though the car looks promising and will do good in the market.

BUT if I was Maruti, I would have made this car as an ideal i20 killer in every sense.

I mean look at the sales figures. It's the Hyundai that Maruti should be anything worried about. Maruti should try to undercut Hyundai product and reduce their market share, segment by segment.
With Baleno, I wouldn't have given the customers a single chance to look at the elite i20. But Maruti decided to bring those boring alloy wheels and front end looks pathetic and less premium without those projectors and DRLs.
Also they decided to bring the same engine options as that of Swift. While they may perform just adequate in real world conditions but still Hyundai will proudly say they have a more powerful 1.4 as compared to Baleno's 1.3.

But Maruti still has upper edge in one department to undercut i20. It's the pricing.

Hope they don't get bonkers when it comes to price the car.
If they are wise and smart they should price the Baleno lower than the elite i20, variant by variant and we'll have another segment topper.

Maruti, you listening?

[sourabhzen]

I like the way people are finding fault with this car. The major issue with this car is weaker diesel engine which in fact second only to Jazz if see power to weight ratio. People are comparing 6 Airbags of Figo with 2 in Baleno but no one bothers to see that base Figo has only one Air bag with no ABS.

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

I like the way people are finding fault with this car. The major issue with this car is weaker diesel engine which in fact second only to Jazz if see power to weight ratio. People are comparing 6 Airbags of Figo with 2 in Baleno but no one bothers to see that base Figo has only one Air bag with no ABS.

People who usually buy the top variants are those who ask about the 6 airbags. When someone can plop 6 airbags and a new engine into a spanking new car and still price it below 10 lakhs , the only reason I can think Suzuki gives their " premium " car 2 airbags and the same engine as their non -premium car, the Swift (their own perspective ) is just an attitude of taking the customers for granted.

Given a choice of 2 or six airbags in a car which your wife would use to drive to work and drop the kids to school on the way, would you choose 2 or six?

[The Rationalist]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

I like the way people are finding fault with this car. The major issue with this car is weaker diesel engine which in fact second only to Jazz if see power to weight ratio. People are comparing 6 Airbags of Figo with 2 in Baleno but no one bothers to see that base Figo has only one Air bag with no ABS.

It is Maruti who is shouting 'Premium' from the rooftops. When did an ordinary car start becoming Premium? If you talk premium, back it with Premium features in all ways. Maybe now onwards cars having airbag and ABS can be considered premium! I have no problem with Baleno, but don't say it is superior to other cars, it is just another car.

[romeomidhun]

2 things had to be changed:

i. The blackened A-Pillar which is completely out of sync with the overall design, and
ii. The Swift'ish head lamps - the should have given a more a meaner headlamp to suit the design and distinguish it from Swift.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

It is Maruti who is shouting 'Premium' from the rooftops. When did an ordinary car start becoming Premium? If you talk premium, back it with Premium features in all ways. Maybe now onwards cars having airbag and ABS can be considered premium! I have no problem with Baleno, but don't say it is superior to other cars, it is just another car.

It is us to decide if a product is premium/superior or not. Manufacturers will say anything they want. Don't we see other manufacturers shouting out loud that their cars on stilts are the real SUVs?

In fact, for Maruti's standard this car is a 'premium'.

[volkman10]

Baleno will drive in India on 26th October. Will be exported from India to 100 designated countries. With 80 Nexa outlets, Maruti seem to target 4000 units/ month.

Maruti's engineering and R&D teams have been involved in the model's development.

Nexa retail network has been shaping up strongly , and the company will have 80 showrooms under the new format by the time the Baleno drives in.

This will be the first instance of Maruti - which contributes 40% to Suzuki's global sales volume and one third to its revenues -supplying a car to its parent for and manufacturing teams of the company see this as a "big achievement".

Apart from Japan, other countries where the Baleno will be sold include, Italy , France, Germany , Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Spain. In South America, it will be sold in Chile, Paraguay and Colombia.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/49347274.cms

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

It is Maruti who is shouting 'Premium' from the rooftops. When did an ordinary car start becoming Premium? If you talk premium, back it with Premium features in all ways. Maybe now onwards cars having airbag and ABS can be considered premium! I have no problem with Baleno, but don't say it is superior to other cars, it is just another car.

I think they are playing a smart marketing strategy. There is an experiment( I forget the name or the actual explanation, but roughly) where you put 5 people in a group-give them a long and short thing, ask which is long and 4 of them point to the short thing (since they have been pre-wired before the experiment to say the same) and the one person not part of the pre-wiring will say the right answer. But when this is repeated and the single person consistently sees that only he is telling differently, after a point of time, he/she changes to the group answer although it is wrong.

Similarly, Maruti has been bombarding us with 'Premium', 'Baleno', 'Nexa', 'Nexa Experience' and so on non stop for some time now. So we subconsciously decide that the 'Baleno' is 'Premium' and something special that we have not seen so far.

The reality is that it is Maruti's B2 segment hatchback released to compete with i20 and Jazz and from all reports is a nice car. Thats it. But Maruti has been able to put a Halo around it.

[chncar]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

People are comparing 6 Airbags of Figo with 2 in Baleno but no one bothers to see that base Figo has only one Air bag with no ABS.

Car manufacturers will package the variants differently, and just comparing lowest or top variants won't be an apples to apples comparison. The key thing is for a given budget, what can you buy from the Figo range vs what can you buy from the Baleno range. The Figo probably offers equal or better (in the case of the top end) safety features than the Baleno at every price point.

[Sherlocked]

SVP's review of Baleno diesel is here. Quoting some bits:

But if the petrol was fun to drive, the diesel is an absolute hoot. I was reminded of what a revelation the Swift diesel had been when it first arrived. I will never forget that first drive, and even though the Baleno isn't quite as sporty, it gets close. And the surprise element is that this is pretty much the same engine too!

The diesel has a slightly more planted feel, and really seems to invigorate the car's every pore. The Baleno DDiS is super fun by comparison, and does everything you want it to.

I must mention that the steering and suspension have been given a lot of consideration, and it shows (true across variants). The car has a mature feel about it, and ride quality is pretty good - front and back. The suspension has been tuned for comfort, but remains taut enough when you throw the car about a bit. Handling is also good, but slightly fatter tyres would've felt more satisfying.

The team that worked on the Baleno for India says it had to fight with Suzuki HQ in Hamamatsu to get its way with the black trim. Conventional wisdom did point to beige or a two tone finish, but Maruti says it wanted to drive home the point of the car being sporty and dynamic.

[maxbhp]

Just my perspective :

Originally Posted by DieselAddikt

Reasons:

2. The exterior design looks ORDINARY.

Do not agree as it subjective. The lines and contours do hint an air of premium category.

3. The interior design looks ORDINARY. Nothing exciting, though the quality may be better than OTHER MARUTI

Again subjective as some prefer cars which are well built with a premium feel like VW than bling interiors.

4. The alloy wheel design looks pathetic.

Disagree as this is something that can be easily corrected over a period.

5. Overall exterior design is strictly average for my eyes. The Chevrolet SRV looked way better, but it was ahead of time when launched.

Rear head lamps / front bumper / C Pillar / Roofline is not mainstream.

7. The 195 section tires look puny for this car. 195 should technically be adequate for hatchbacks in our country, but it looks puny for the massive proportions of the car.

Disagree as 195 Section tyre is good enough for the car as the effect of it is seen only in the front and back and the contact patch is good enough.

9. Some interior bits used reminds me of lesser models. High time they changed the design of the door pads and power window switches, and may be the steering wheel too.

A note worthy aspect is that they are bringing in lighter cars with the help of lighter and better chassis instead of going the VW way of blatantly cheating the world around them (for meeting emission norms). This is a good move if the chassis is as strong as the heavier ones. More technology put into such findings/improvements will go a long way in making better handling, fuel efficient cars.

Being in the Steel Industry for front end sales, let me tell you that using high tensile steel as a replacement of structurals and doing further iterations of that like going from 270 Yield Strength to 440 to 590 and higher is happening across all sectors even PEB's.

Wider tires can also be bought. I just need a safe hatchback that is fun to drive.

Wider tyre than 195 will hit your fuel efficiency. Having a good rubber compound in 195 section is good enough for more than average kamakazee driving.

[aniketi]

Sadly, no car can satisfy T-BHP members

Whatever car manufacturer brings, people find faults in it. For so many years, people were shouting about Maruti for not providing safety features. Now Maruti has gone ahead and providing all safety features from base model which is best thing that can happen in India. Still people are not happy and finding faults. Actually there is no car in the world which is liked by all and which can match and fulfills all you requirements.

Anyways, overall car looks very promising and all reviews suggests that its best ever Maruti hatchback. It has safety features, it has big space, big boot, good handling, good looks, great fuel efficiency & Maruti A.S.S. for support, what else normal people want. Top end looks very promising with those projector headlamps, not sure why Maruti skipped it from base models. That's the only thing i didn't liked about the car, but I guess we can replace it with projector lamps at some cost. I am sure it is going to eat lots of numbers from i10 Grand and Elite i20 as well as from Jazz. Figo is not in picture here at all, first month numbers suggests that people are not liking it like previous gen Figo. Polo will also feel the heat for sure. If Maruti launches it around 5.7 Lacs, sure we have one more entry from Maruti in top 10 list of largest selling cars in India. All the best Maruti, give us good price

[scarlet.fever]

The interiors do not really cut it for me for a car which Maruti aims to sell as a premium hatch.

[nivatakavacha]

I dont quite understand SVP's comments in his review. Quoting verbatim - "But if the petrol was fun to drive, the diesel is an absolute hoot. I was reminded of what a revelation the Swift diesel had been when it first arrived. I will never forget that first drive, and even though the Baleno isn't quite as sporty, it gets close. And the surprise element is that this is pretty much the same engine too!"

How can the same engine with the same power spec feel any different in the Swift and the Baleno?

I know that the reduced weight plays a role in it but will the the difference be so stark and obvious? Can anyone tell me why? Have they played around with the gear ratio?

[kippu]

so if someone can compare the ford figo automatic and the baleno Cvt? or is that a wrong comparison to talk about?