Geneva Suzuki Auto will give visitors to the Geneva International Motor Show a glimpse of its future when it introduces the new European-bound Suzuki Baleno on 1 March.
The production version of the new Suzuki Baleno is hailed as the most advanced hatchback yet for the compact car specialist and it will introduce a new platform and creature comforts. The South African introduction is slated for the second half of this year. The Baleno will be the first new Suzuki model to feature the company’s lightweight new generation platform. The platform was created as the foundation for several new models and offers greater rigidity, which will benefit the Baleno’s ride and handling performance, and a lower kerb weight, which scores positively for fuel consumption and power-to-weight ratio.
The platform draws on Suzuki’s compact vehicle expertise and is said to offer Csegment space in a B-segment market, with an overall length of under 4 000 mm. The increased space will benefit the driver and passengers, and the boot space is best in its class. With the Baleno, Suzuki Auto continues its rapid pace of new vehicle introductions, which has seen it launch new models such as the Vitara, Celerio, Ertiga, SX4 and Ciaz in rapid succession. These new models are partly responsible for the popularity of this Japanese brand, which this year celebrated the sale of the 50 millionth Suzuki globally and the overall sale of 40 000 Suzuki vehicles in South Africa since 2008. Apart from being the first vehicle to use Suzuki’s new-generation platform, it also introduces the world to its Liquid Flow design language. The new design language gives the Baleno an air of sophistication, while being one of the most aerodynamic models ever built by the company.