Suzuki GB expects to sell 3,500 units of Suzuki Baleno in the UK - Report
Priced from £12,999 for 1.0L Boosterjet variant.
Suzuki GB’s sales and marketing director Dale Wyatt has told the country's media that his conservative volume expectation for the Suzuki Baleno in the first year on the UK market is 3,500 units.
The India-made Suzuki Baleno has already gone on sale with prices starting from £12,999 and £13,499 (INR 12.7 Lakhs and INR 13.19 Lakhs) for the 1.0L Boosterjet and 1.2L SHVS variants respectively.
Product manager Ed Norman told AM-Online, “We have a good conquest opportunity with this car, for downsizers and people who used to own Swift, but have left the brand. This gives us an opportunity to talk to those people again and try to win them back into the brand.”
The Suzuki Baleno measures 3,995 mm long, 1,745 mm wide, 1,470 mm high and has a wheelbase of 2,520 mm. It's positioned above the Suzuki Swift, and is an option for customers who prefer more space, a contemporary exterior design and a better feature list.
The U.K-spec Suzuki Baleno comes standard with 16-inch alloy wheels, HID projector headlights, HVAC system, satellite navigation, DAB Radio with USB and Bluetooth connectivity, rear privacy glass, cruise control with speed limiter, six airbags and front electric windows. The 1.2L SHVS variant further throws in automatic climate control, rear electric windows, 4.2 inch central colour trip display, LED rear lights, Adaptive Cruise Control and Radar Brake Support to the list of features.
As mentioned above, the Baleno offers two petrol engine options: 1.0L Boosterjet and 1.2L SHVS. The former is an all new three cylinder turbo engine that outputs 111 PS and 170 Nm of torque, and is paired to either a 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic.
The latter is the first application of the SHVS mild hybrid tech in Suzuki UK's range, which integrates features like brake energy recovery system that converts kinetic energy of the rolling wheels (while decelerating) into current useful for charging up the battery, an auto start-stop system to boost mileage, and a torque assist function.
While the Suzuki Baleno for U.K is only available in four variants with two petrol engines, the Maruti Baleno sold here offers a petrol and diesel option, as well as a sportier Maruti Baleno RS with the 1.0L Boosterjet that comes during the festival season.
[Source - AM-Online]