Maruti Suzuki’s Baleno gets a new avatar in 2015

Maruti Suzuki’s Baleno re-enters into the Indian market with a new avatar of premium hatchback.

Codenamed YRA will be now officially called Baleno and will be hitting the Indian market in the upcoming festive season.

Pitted to the biggest launch of FY-16 from Maruti Suzuki, the Baleno will play a critical role in the company's 2020 vision and will be a key part of company's premium NEXA outlets.

Baleno which means 'Flash' in Italian was no more than a mere flash in the pan in the Indian market when it was launched, but with this new hatchback Maruti Suzuki wants to create a flash in the crowded hatchback space, said a company official.

The YRA hatchback will be premiered at the upcoming 66th Frankfurt Motor Show in September as Suzuki Baleno and it will be produced out of its Indian manufacturing base.

"The product has a huge significance for Maruti Suzuki as it will be by far the best vehicle made the company and in a way new face of the company. Baleno and Nexa story are not currently understood, but it is going to be a big factor in Maruti Suzuki's vision of 2 million and 2020," said a company official.

In a release issued in Japan on Friday, Suzuki says the Baleno is a model which raises the bar for compact hatchbacks by using Suzuki's compact car expertise to realise all elements of stylish design, smart packaging, driving performance, and fuel efficiency.

But then does it make sense to name the vehicle Baleno, as the product of yesteryear hardly created a mark in the market.

Barring the name, there is nothing much in common in the new Baleno and the vehicle which was sold in India almost a decade back, said an official and the current generation of the prospective buyers that the company is targeting may not make too much into it.


(Image credits: Indiatimes)