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All-New Suzuki Baleno Debuts in Frankfurt with Bland Styling and Turbo Engine

We don't want to seem negative or anything, but the Suzuki Baleno is a brand new car that nobody has ever seen before. Yet it was completely overshadowed during the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Suzuki Baleno 24 photos
Photo: Newspress
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On the off chance that you do care about Suzuki and its B-segment VW Polo rival, we have all the details, plus lots of footage.

First things first, we need to mention the Baleno is a subcompact, sitting in the range above the Swift. It comes as standard with five doors and is quite large by Suzuki standards (most of their cars are small). It's 3,995mm long, 1,745mm wide and 1,470mm high, so about the same as a Skoda Fabia.

While the styling is not impressive, the 355 liters of cargo space places the Baleno in the same league as a bigger Ford Focus. Good job Suzuki!

Styling cues seem to be shared with the Vitara crossover. At the front, a simple black grille is connected to swept back headlights. There are a few creases here and there, but the Baleno's bodywork is mostly flat.

The single biggest piece of new technology on this car is the engine. To compete with Ford's popular Fiesta EcoBoost, the Baleno has received an all-new 1.0 BOOSTERJET engine with only three cylinders. According to the Japanese manufacturer, it delivers 110 PS and 170Nm (125lb-ft) of torque, so it's about the same as the 1.2 TSI from VW Group.

Cheaper models will be offered with the same 1.2 engine as the smaller Swift. It produces 89 PS and 120Nm (88.5lb-ft) of torque, being available with a five-speed manual or continuously variable transmission.

The interior is a sober mix of black plastic and fabric that seems like it's pulled from the 90s. However, Suzuki has seen fit to add features like a Smartphone Linkage Display Audio compatible with Apple CarPlay and adaptive cruise control.

Could this be a viable alternative to popular hatchbacks like the Fiesta and Clio or is the name just too weird?

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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