[Crazy_Bean]

Originally Posted by Maxthrottle

From the above screenshots , the car being a hatch has definitely good road presence and it looks as wide as the Terrano and as tall as the old Desire.
Maruti needs to provide this car in 6-MT in both petrol and diesel as it can be a great highway cruiser.

Unfortunately the tranny for DDIS 200 is confirmed to be a 5 MT. I don't think there will be any other diesel offering.

Petrol will also be a 5 MT. Not sure about booster jet; which is anyways not available at launch.

[adtalwar]

"Pricing for the Baleno is not yet available, but Suzuki did say the hatch will be launched in the U.K. early next summer. It should fetch more than the Swift, priced from £8,999 (about $14,016). The Baleno will likely retail from £11,000 (around $17,133), which is about the same as an entry-level Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo and Ford Fiesta."

Source: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/suzuki/...-ar170763.html

This potentially means that the Baleno may cross INR 11L OTR for Z variant which may not be very encouraging for the mass market. Hopefully they have learned something from S-Cross experience and make amends. Be prepared for the below to happen so that the shock is less when it actually does :-)

1. Only offer 2 Airbags - The quote actually says 'from' for the price but Suzuki will have 6 airbag version abroad which may not be made available here. That would be a shame and Figo may force heated debates within MSIL though.

2. Drop Adaptive Cruise Control - Normal one should be acceptable.

3. Drop Radar Brake Support (RBS) - Should be acceptable for our traffic conditions.

4. 14" and 15" wheels instead of 15" and 16" - Will not suit the vehicle size. Lesser variants will look bad I think.

OR Go out of the box!
- Remove Ritz from line up. Reposition Swift within current Ritz pricing (cut of 35-50k).
- Launch Baleno Z at par with Jazz and Elite i20 top end versions.
- Offer Z+ (6 airbags) variant as the premium offering.
- Z+ with CVT could be the icing.

Swift will go on waiting lists again (Grand i10 will suffer badly IMO) and Baleno will also sell quite well.

Regards
Anand

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by adtalwar

OR Go out of the box!
- Remove Ritz from line up. Reposition Swift within current Ritz pricing (cut of 35-50k).

IMO this is not possible,Suzuki Mini Crossover iM-4 ( Ignis) will be positioned in place of Ritz.

[adtalwar]

Originally Posted by volkman10

IMO this is not possible, the Suzuki Mini Crossover iM-4 ( Ignis) will be positioned in place of Ritz.

Hmm.. ok. How far is that launch? The segmentation will get difficult for MSIL as the bandwidth is decreasing. If they push over a certain price we can then replace S-Cross with Baleno in the news article.

http://www.team-bhp.com/news/discoun...suzuki-s-cross

Regards
Anand

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by adtalwar

OR Go out of the box!
- Remove Ritz from line up. Reposition Swift within current Ritz pricing (cut of 35-50k).
- Launch Baleno Z at par with Jazz and Elite i20 top end versions.
- Offer Z+ (6 airbags) variant as the premium offering.
- Z+ with CVT could be the icing.

Swift will go on waiting lists again (Grand i10 will suffer badly IMO) and Baleno will also sell quite well.

Regards
Anand

Anand,

Very relevant and spot on observations.
completely .

S Cross is already having discounts of upto a lac. That clearly means that the sales nos. are nothing to write home about.

Swift in the space of Ritz can only be a great and if I am not wrong, the only logical move that Maruti has to do.

Swift is a great car but honestly, never commanded the premium it has now.
Dont get me wrong. It is a great car and one of the best cars from the Maruti stables. Yet, it has been positioned as a premium product when the market did not have the likes of the superior Elite or the Jazz.

As you have correctly stated, the Baleno has to slot in the place that fights the Jazz and the Elite.

Anything more and we have another S Cross disaster in the making.

[adtalwar]

Originally Posted by arnabchak

Anand,

Very relevant and spot on observations.
completely .

S Cross is already having discounts of upto a lac. That clearly means that the sales nos. are nothing to write home about.

Swift in the space of Ritz can only be a great and if I am not wrong, the only logical move that Maruti has to do.

Swift is a great car but honestly, never commanded the premium it has now.
Dont get me wrong. It is a great car and one of the best cars from the Maruti stables. Yet, it has been positioned as a premium product when the market did not have the likes of the superior Elite or the Jazz.

As you have correctly stated, the Baleno has to slot in the place that fights the Jazz and the Elite.

Anything more and we have another S Cross disaster in the making.

Thanks for your comments arnabchak.

One thing I missed earlier was the front disc offerings only. This one is also very plausible.

So the Z+ could be 6 Airbags + Rear Discs + Leather etc which will befit the Nexa premium branding.

Z could have 2 Airbags + Front Discs as standard and CVT could fit in here also rather than just Z+.

I would like to see Airbags standard across all variants and no LXi here. Start with VXi, VXi (o), Z, Z+ and may be Z(o) similar to Ciaz.

Ritz < Swift < Dzire < Ertiga < Ciaz < S-Cross
Overlap Baleno with Ertiga and Ciaz or price it higher and challenge S-Cross?? I am glad this is not my headache! And these are only MSIL products no rivals included.

Nexa will find it hard to be a success if this is not done practically but going the S-Cross way. I have only seen 1 S-Cross in Gurgaon since launch against at least 20 Creta sightings. Sales figures are the ultimate score.

Swift has to move down the chain. Jazz and Elite i20 are very good products and MSIL has to woo the masses somehow. Engines are not changing and rear discs and 6 airbags only pull in few premium customers. Pricing is your only game. Please don't screw up again especially on CVT front.

Regards
Anand

[volkman10]

Guys,

Get ready for the launch of the all New Baleno!

[SRK]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Guys,

Get ready for the launch of the all New Baleno!

Attachment 1420660

How come is the dealer advertising the Baleno while the official NEXA site doesn’t?


I am wondering that while Maruti has promised that the Nexa customers can get their cars serviced at any of the M.A.S.S. even if it doesn’t run a Nexa outlet, would those service centres actually be keeping an inventory for the car like S-Cross and Baleno?
Imagine I go to some place where the nearest Nexa outlet is say 200 kms away and I require a part changed immediately. What options would a customer have then apart from road side assistance?

Also what does Maruti mean by “Genuine NEXA Parts". Isn’t the Baleno coming with the same engine line up as the Swift? This means the spare parts can be shared. Would a S-Cross or Baleno customer not be able to procure MGP parts and use on the Nexa vehicles? I hope they are not priced at a premium just for the branding or are the cars being equipped with different parts?

Until there are no dedicated Nexa Authorised Service Station (N.A.S.S.) things look confusing. We might have to wait and watch untill some S-Cross or Baleno customer writes a review about the service experience.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by SRK

How come is the dealer advertising the Baleno while the official NEXA site doesn’t?

The advertisement is from NEXA - Owned by Bimal

[SRK]

Originally Posted by volkman10

The advertisement is from NEXA - Owned by Bimal

Yes! I did notice that it was a teaser from the dealer. What I was trying to say is the nexaexperience.com website doesn't have any updates on the Baleno yet. Not even a teaser. There is not talk about it on their official social media channels too.

One more thing the official site needs is a link to the Nexa dealer websites. Currently it only provides the address.

[volkman10]

Maruti Baleno teased; launch on October 26, 2015



Maruti’s Premium Hatch to come with petrol and diesel engines; will also get a petrol CVT option. Rumored to be priced from 6.5 - 8 lakhs.

The Baleno measures 3,995mm in length, 1,745mm in width and is 1,470mm high, improving on the Swift's length and width of 3,850mm and 1,695mm respectively. Boot space too is larger at 355 litres. The Baleno sits on an all-new platform that will also underpin the new Maruti YBA compact SUV, as well as the next-generation Swift.

In India, the Baleno will initially be powered by the familiar 1.2-litre petrol and the 1.3-litre diesel in the 89bhp DDiS 200 guise, and the Boosterjet-equipped model will follow later. For the first time, the 1.2-litre petrol model will come with the option of a CVT gearbox. The diesel Baleno is likely to come to India with the newly launched SHVS fuel-saving technology as standard.

Baleno will come loaded with adequate creature comforts, depending on the variant. Higher-spec variants of the Baleno will get daytime running lamps and LED tail-lamps – a first from Maruti. The other good news is that Maruti will give the car 16-inch wheels, at least on the top spec.

Baleno’s dashboard gets a neat and uncluttered design. It features silver accents on the centre console. Higher trims will come with a 7.0-inch SmartPlay infotainment system that will be equipped with Apple CarPlay as well – a first for any car in India. There's a separate circular digital display for the HVAC controls.

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...15-397734.aspx

[chncar]

Baleno’s dashboard gets a neat and uncluttered design. It features silver accents on the centre console. Higher trims will come with a 7.0-inch SmartPlay infotainment system that will be equipped with Apple CarPlay as well – a first for any car in India.

I hate the idea of having to pay 'Apple Tax'. Hope they don't charge extra (over any other decent entertainment system) for this so-called premium feature.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by adtalwar

OR Go out of the box!
- Remove Ritz from line up. Reposition Swift within current Ritz pricing (cut of 35-50k).
- Launch Baleno Z at par with Jazz and Elite i20 top end versions.
- Offer Z+ (6 airbags) variant as the premium offering.
- Z+ with CVT could be the icing.

Swift will go on waiting lists again (Grand i10 will suffer badly IMO) and Baleno will also sell quite well.

As long as Ritz is selling some numbers, at least as Taxis, they do not need to remove it. There are some areas, which prefer Ritz over Swift.

The Swift, has other plans such as introducing the SHVS on it, and probably later the Range Extenders as well into it. So, there will be a lot of takers for the Swift at least for an year.

In my opinion, the pricing of top version diesel Baleno should not cross 8L ex showroom, and the OTR price should stay under 10L. Anything above, will not be considered premium, but will be considered overpriced, and sidelined. B2 segment is full of hatchbacks, one topping the other.

Apart from that, since Baleno will be sold from Nexa outlets, it can at best expect the numbers to be around 2K a month, and not like 20K a month of Swift. Baleno will have the same constraints that Fiat or VW has for its low sales of good cars.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

Apart from that, since Baleno will be sold from Nexa outlets, it can at best expect the numbers to be around 2K a month, and not like 20K a month of Swift. Baleno will have the same constraints that Fiat or VW has for its low sales of good cars.

Maruti is well aware of the handicap it has in its limited number of Nexa showrooms while selling its premium products.

It sets a modest target of selling an average of 5000 number of Baleno's per month to start with. In fact they set a target of selling 100 numbers each of Baleno's and S Cross's per month in the upcoming 100 Nexa showrooms.

http://www.motownindia.com/Bureau/Au...n#.VgO7Fcuqqko

[aniketi]

Baleno and S-cross both should have option of Maruti's 1.4 petrol model. Its a proven engine in Ertiga and Ciaz. Its a very smooth, refined engine with sufficient power to satisfy common man. My friend has Ertiga Vxi and we went to Hyderabad in that with 5 adults and full load. I am very suprised as we got almost 17 average on highways with 100% AC on. It makes it a terrific value proposition. Cars like Baleno and S-cross deserves this engine. Not sure why Maruti is not thinking about it. Why Maruti, why?