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India’s top most car manufacturer Maruti has always been known for its successful hatchbacks. Be it the historic 800, the Alto or the Swift, Maruti has been known to master this segment. The new Baleno carries forward the legacy by taking the baton from Swift for being the premium hatchback. The Baleno is now the flagship hatchback of Maruti with irresistible pricing, thanks to its heavy localization factor. The most impressive aspect is that the car will be exported to the other parts of the world from India. The car will be competing against Hyundai Elite i20, Honda Jazz and others in the segment. So let’s roll down to have a look at the quick comparison of Baleno and its rivals.
Mechanically, the Baleno is available in both diesel and petrol avatars. The diesel model has a DDiS 190 engine with a displacement of 1248cc that churns out 75PS of power and a peak torque of 190Nm @ 2000rpm. It gives a best in class mileage of 27.39kmpl. The petrol version comes with a K-Series VVT 1197cc engine that churns out 84.3PS of power and 115Nm of peak torque at 4000rpm. It gives out a fuel efficiency of 21.4Kmpl. Both the trims come mated to 5-speed Manual transmission with an additional option of CVT for the petrol model.
As far as the fuel efficiency goes, all other hatchbacks in competition with the Baleno, such as Hyundai Elite i20, Volkswagen Polo and Fiat Punt EVO delivering lesser mileage than the Baleno, but it is Honda Jazz that draws up close to the newly introduced hatch. The Jazz delivers a mileage of 27.3Kmpl with its 1.5 litre i-DTEC 1498 cc diesel model with a power output of 100PS and peak torque of 200Nm @1750rpm. The diesel model comes mated to a 6 speed manual transmission.
Coming to the exteriors, the above-mentioned hatchbacks have an impressive line-up of measurements as follows:
| Ground Clearance | Wheelbase | Length | Height | Boot Space | |
| Baleno | 170mm | 2520mm | 3995mm | 1500mm | 339litres |
| Elite i20 | 170mm | 2570mm | 3985mm | 1505mm | 285litres |
| Jazz | 165mm | 2530mm | 3955mm | 1544mm | 354litres |
| Polo | 165mm | 2469mm | 3971mm | 1469mm | 280litres |
| EVO | 195mm | 2510mm | 3989mm | 1525mm | 280litres |
Thus, it can be said that the new Baleno has a comfortable on-road presence coming second to only the EVO in terms of ground clearance with a comfortable boot space for those weekend trips. The hatch is longest in its segment with a spacious wheelbase, giving the occupants a comfortable ride. Coming to the safety and other features, Baleno is the only hatchback in the class that comes with dual front standard airbags right from its base model along with ABS and EBD features, both in petrol and diesel. This is an utmost important feature since no other car in the segment offers such basic yet uncompromisable features.
Jazz is the only car after Baleno that offers ABS as standard but only with its diesel trim. Feature wise, Baleno is rich with the incorporation of a touchscreen infotainment system with built-in navigation and a rear-view camera, a feature that only Elite i20 and Jazz share. Having said that, Baleno goes a step further by offering Apple Car Play, which according to the carmaker is the first of its kind initiative in India.
The Baleno has been aggressively priced. Compared to its arch rivals-Honda Jazz and Hyundai Elite i20, Maruti Suzuki has launched the new Baleno with a more reasonable price tag of INR 4.99 lacs as compared to its rivals. Although, Baleno carries forward the same engine options as that of the Swift, the hatch is nearly 100kgs lighter than its competitors as well as from its sibling. While Hyundai manages to sell its Elite i20 at a mark of 10,000 units per month, only time will tell whether the Baleno would be able to touch the same sales figure for Maruti Suzuki.