Maruti Baleno Variants – All the details

The newly-launched Baleno premium hatchback from Maruti Suzuki will be launched in a while. Available exclusively through NEXA dealerships, the Baleno is an important launch for the manufacturer. The Baleno comes with both, petrol and diesel engine options that are mated to a manual/continuously variable transmission (CVT) gearbox, and a manual gearbox respectively.

The range starts with the Sigma trim level and goes all the way to the range topping Alpha variant. In a tribute to its European aspirations, the Baleno follows an all-black theme interspersed with rich silver accents for the interior.

Maruti have reiterated their focus on safety by offering passenger protection equipment as standard across the entire Baleno range.

The base, ‘Sigma’ trim, comes with twin airbags and EBD as standard along with pre-tensioning seat-belts and load-limiters for the passengers at the front. There’s power windows on offer for the driver and the co-driver, and central locking. The steering is adjustable for tilt-function and is a powered setup. The bumpers are body coloured and there’s a high mount stop lamp along with LED combi-lamps at the rear.

A manually controlled, basic, air-conditioning with heater setup does duty here while side pillars feature a black applique.

The ‘Delta’ trim on the Baleno gets a wash-wipe at the rear along with a defogger. Auto air-conditioning makes an appearance here (Climatronic, in Maruti-speak). The ORVM’s get electric controls for adjust and fold functions. Power windows make an appearance on all four doors. The infotainment system is Bluetooth enabled and you also get steering mounted audio controls. There’s key-less entry as well as rear parking sensors here. Maruti will also be offering the CVT transmission exclusively in this variant.

Moving up to the ‘Zeta’, the Baleno’s steering gets height adjust for the driver. The telescopic steering wheel comes clad in leather here, as does the gear-shift knob. The internal rear-view mirror (IRVM) gets an auto-dimming option, while the auto-headlights get the ‘follow-me-home’ function.

There’s alloy wheels and LED DRL’s, along with fog lamps at the front, to wrap up the exterior embellishments.

The range topping, Alpha variant comes with a full-projector headlamp setup.

It also gets an exclusive touch-screen infotainment system with turn-by-turn navigation and a reverse parking camera setup.

The Baleno has its work cut-out for it. Maruti is banking huge on the success of this premium hatchback, more so than it did on the S-Cross. The sales performance of the Baleno will set the bar not just in the domestic market, but also in key overseas markets where it will be retailed under the Suzuki network. It will be interesting to track the performance of this premium hatchback in the coming months.