Nov 15, 2016 11:21 AM
14365 Views
The price. As you rightly said, I thought it's going to end up in no man's land, what with all the Nexa+ premium talk happening. On the day of the launch, when I saw how close it's positioned to the Swift, I was shocked. Hats off to Maruti for the sheer VFM pricing. The difference from the Swift is nothing in EMI terms - I can't see any reason why one would buy a Swift(or even the Dzire) over the Baleno.
Second pleasant surprise was the car itself. I took it all around Bombay at night and my mind went'damn, this car is competent'. First the S-Cross 1.6, and now the Baleno. Maruti is making better hatchbacks than it ever has before. Suzuki's engineering strength has grown by leaps & bounds in the last 5 years. Indeed, the Baleno is an all-rounder.
That said, the Hyundai i20 remains the segment benchmark. The difference between the top-end Baleno & Elite i20 is less than Rs. 20, 000(basically.nothing). My pick would be the Elite i20 any which day - it feels a lot more substantial, offers the interior quality of cars priced twice or thrice as much, is far more refined and the diesel(my choice) is a superior engine. No contest.
But I am surprised by how close Maruti has come.
These are the two big hatchbacks to beat in the market today. In their own way, they have moved the game ahead. Cars like the Polo, Liva, Bolt etc. will only suffer more. And whatever future hatchbacks are coming our way in 2016, they are going to have to improve their offering. I can sense product managers of other companies breaking into a sweat. For us customers, cars like the Elite i20 & Baleno make the entire segment better.
