[Leoshashi]

Baleno RS is removed from the official site of NEXA, and this probably marks the official discontinuation of the model. RIP.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Baleno RS is removed from the official site of NEXA, and this probably marks the official discontinuation of the model. RIP.

Kinda sad reading this. It was the one Maruti that I felt was close to being a power hatch, albeit not as sensational as a Polo GT or the Abarth Punto. I got a sense that it was also built a bit heftier than the regular Baleno. It had a crisp, linear response through the urban driving cycle. The suspension too felt nice and taut .

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Baleno RS is removed from the official site of NEXA, and this probably marks the official discontinuation of the model. RIP.

It is sad that Maruti did not have the stomach to build this into it's full potential. It's a sweet power train combo that simply need some well thoughout chassis enhancements.

Drive on,
Shibu

[saket77]

^^ Sometimes I feel that however successful Maruti has been in the mass market; they have been 'unlucky' with their some of the well made cars.

I was discussing this with DBHPian Shashi some time ago that how Maruti burnt its hands every time it came up with well made cars or something exclusive. We love to blame them for producing tin cans but there were cars from Maruti which were built really well; which we, the buyers, failed to acknowledge. Cars like Grand Vitara, SX4, A-Star, Kizashi, S-Cross and recently the Ritz were all well made cars but failed to get the sales momentum going while their 'tin cans' continued to sell like staples. I have a feeling that these failures shaped the strategy of MSIL in gauging what Indians want/ wanted. However, this is poised to change very soon.

Regards,
Saket

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing! Moving Baleno RS update to a new thread.

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by saket77

^^ Sometimes I feel that however successful Maruti has been in the mass market; they have been 'unlucky' with their some of the well made cars.

I was discussing this with DBHPian Shashi some time ago that how Maruti burnt its hands every time it came up with well made cars or something exclusive. We love to blame them for producing tin cans but there were cars from Maruti which were built really well; which we, the buyers, failed to acknowledge. Cars like Grand Vitara, SX4, A-Star, Kizashi, S-Cross and recently the Ritz were all well made cars but failed to get the sales momentum going while their 'tin cans' continued to sell like staples. I have a feeling that these failures shaped the strategy of MSIL in gauging what Indians want/ wanted. However, this is poised to change very soon.

Regards,
Saket

I completely agree with you that Maruti was/is not always into producing tin cans. The do bring out nice cars once in a while, get jittery when the month end sales figures do not match their estimates, pull it off the market instantly and go back to producing tin cans again! The way Maruti Suzuki controls the Indian market with it's 'tin-can' business makes it really tough for the other players who want to offer good cars to the Indian consumer (Tata, Ford as examples) but are forced to under engineer to save costs. By good cars, I don't mean for the enthusiasts only, but well built, safe, reliable cars for the average Joe as well.
Alas, the average Joe is busy looking at the FE and the feature list in his cars so it would be foolish to blame the car manufacturers (read Maruti Suzuki) entirely for the kind of cars we have in our market today.

RIP Baleno RS. I was totally unhappy when they used the 'Baleno' moniker on a hatchback but the RS sort of made me think the car lived up to it's name.

[1100D]

Baleno RS was also a tin-can. The lukewarm response Maruti got for it was because it was a Lukewarm Hatch (by hot hatch standards). However, if Maruti gambled a bit on getting us the Swift Sport, it would have certainly been the most successful hot-hatch India (since it would come with the peace of mind factor of being a Maruti) has seen. But sadly, Maruti doesn't seem to realise that!

[deehunk]

I have seen these 1.0L petrol engines with TC's very closely, it was always a difficult task for a company like Maruti to handle them. They are best at selling cheap cars.

[NFS2024]

I think we knew the use case for Baleno RS. It was not meant to be a hot hatch in India. They just plonked the Boosterjet engine and called it the RS variant. The engine was not localized, so Maruti never had an intention of mass producing it.

They just wanted to see if this would succeed and it did not because of engine import cost. If they had further customized the Baleno to make it sporty, the cost would've shot through the roof.

Yea we might miss the Boosterjet engine though. It had nice driveability.

[Nazaar25]

As a hot hatch, it was a half hearted attempt.
They should add the 1.0L boosterjet to Baleno's engine lineup in the standard guise to save costs.
A turbo petrol is a norm nowadays and it will help in filling the void left by the diesel.

[IshaanIan]

I think the market life of these 1 liter 3cyl turbo petrol motors like the boosterjet and the ecoboost are clear indicators that we are going down a very stupid path chasing theoretical fuel efficiency figures. The G13B, and other na petrol motors with variable valve timing lasted much longer in the market. We need more technological advancements on the lines of variable trumpets etc. rather than lobbing off cylinders and turbocharging. Where has the art of making good petrol engines gone?

[Thermodynamics]

which hot hatch did well in our market ?
Polo GTi, Punto Abarth, Baleno RS, Tiago JTP, all are flops regardless of performance.

I agree with Saket, majority of us do not appreciate well built cars.

[DieselAddikt]

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

which hot hatch did well in our market ?
Polo GTi, Punto Abarth, Baleno RS, Tiago JTP, all are flops regardless of performance.

I agree with Saket, majority of us do not appreciate well built cars.

Polo GTI should not be considered along with Punto Abarth and JTP. I am not even talking about Baleno here as I do not consider it a special variant. What competes with the other semi-hot hatches is the GT TSI and I see that it is quite popular with the young crowd despite a price tag of over 10L. At least 3 out of 10 Polos I see in Kochi are TSI. This sends out a clear message to the manufacturers. If you provide a decent product with confident backing (not shutting shop in the next 6 months), it will sell. Not everyone will buy it, but there IS a market. I don't think enthusiasts would buy a tin can though. I think that's where MS failed.

I know at least 4 people who vouch for VW build out of which 2 already own Polos. They will happily buy a GT TSI where as none of them would touch a Baleno citing safety concerns. People who buy Baleno are mostly people who are concerned about FE and resale. None of this is important for a person buying a semi-hot hatch. So Baleno RS would obviously sell less. And for MS, anything that sells less than 10K is a flop. 😋

[smileline]

Sad that other cars in the Maruti stable couldn't get the 1.0 L engine, in the BS IV era.

1.0L Boosterjet engine in the new swift, would have been interesting.

[pedrolourenco]

Maruti should just launch the Baleno with the K15 engine of the XL6 and add the rear disk brakes. They can add the bumpers and skirts if they want to call it a RS.