[Sherlocked]

Checked out the Baleno today. Unluckily, had only 10 minutes to spare. Test drives haven't started yet.

Few Impressions:

• Ray Blue color does looks amazing. Easily my pick of the lot.
• Body panels did feel light and overall the way door opens and closes, you can make out it's not a heavy weight car. Hope the sheet metal is not as bad as the Swift's.
• Overall interior plastic quality looked inferior. I would rate the Swift's interior a notch above.
• Back seat space as well as boot is quite generous.
• Front seats are super supportive too with good side bolstering.
• The car did looked like it's the widest and longest. I love the Baleno's stance.
• Dashboard is placed quite low, so the overall front visibility is superb.
• RM told me the deliveries have been started, The grey Baleno pic posted was being readied for delivery.

The blue car snapped outside the showroom is the Premium Urban Blue.





















We can change the color of this car in Instrument cluster settings.

[sou_3749]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

Just had another dekko of the car and I have come back a lot dejected! I understand that safety cant be measured by how heavy or light the body feels but, unfortunately it is abnormally light and undeniably confidence shattering. I think I need to go and check out another dealership so, that i get to experience a different Baleno. This would help me confirm my findings.

I've never owned a German car and come from a humble background but, even my 10year old Esteem feels more solid in comparison. And that too when it has a curb weight of just 750kgs!

I'm confused as hell now and royally confused. After checking out the Baleno, I headed out to the Hyundai showroom to check out the Xcent and that oozed quality with the way the doors closed and the likes.

Can any other bhpian confirm my findings or am I hallucinating?

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

Your observation is bang on. Checking out another car in a different showroom won't make the car solid

One thing for sure, maruti will never compromise on margin(read profit). It can lower the quality in order to come to a unbelievable price.

Has anybody guessed 4.99 starting price???

It's the very same reason why they couldn't price s-cross any lower. Because it's not compromised on quality compared to the international version.

[invidious]

Test drove today after checking out the car yesterday. Test drove the Alpha variant - had all the requisite bells and whistles and then some. The size is fantastic and the driving was a breeze. The seats at the back seemed a tad bumpy. I told the sales executive that my 6 year old Linea was more planted at the back than this. He surprisingly admitted - "The Fiat is built like a tank and is heavy - please don't compare." The CVT is still not in the showroom. Still a toss up for me between the Alpha/Zeta Variant MT of the Baleno and the SX(O) Xcent MT or AT. A big difference is the 2 year warranty on the AT Xcent and the 4 year Warranty on Baleno.

[bansal1987]

Here are the Pune prices for the Baleno !!

[WRXXX]

Originally Posted by sou_3749

Agreed that jazz is overpriced but not hugely. The jazz V costs just shy of 8 lakhs where as Baleno alpha costs 8.2 lakhs in chennai. And I do believe jazz V is fairly loaded. As we say there is no replacement for displacement, we can also say quality comes with a price tag.

With the fear of terming this OT and probably my last post on this topic:

While I agree Jazz has practicality and utility advantage the difference in quality is not huge in my opinion, I could be wrong, but both are built to cost. I felt the plastics were of a similar quality in Jazz but metal did not feel this light or hollow for sure. But time will tell which quality lasts.
I think Maruti's low quality sometimes are compensated by ever vigilant service center and low cost of replacement of certain parts.

But price-wise I would clearly tell that for a Made in India car like Jazz it is obscenely over priced. And Maruti only holding them for reference when pricing the Baleno, in fact if this was released as a new Swift nobody would have even commented other than the existing Swift owners I suppose.

When I made a statement about the Hyundai Accent in 2000 and people had trouble seeing why, the point was, it was totally made in India car then and Hyundai was charging 8L for that car. And in US the same car was available with dual airbags and EBD for 4.7L(10K USD then). So, if anyone to be blamed today for this northward pricing for seemingly cool looking hatches, it has to be Hyundai.

Please pardon my blabbering!

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by sou_3749

Your observation is bang on. Checking out another car in a different showroom won't make the car solid

One thing for sure, maruti will never compromise on margin(read profit). It can lower the quality in order to come to a unbelievable price.

Has anybody guessed 4.99 starting price???

It's the very same reason why they couldn't price s-cross any lower. Because it's not compromised on quality compared to the international version.

Just compared the Duster and S-Cross on Carwale. S-Cross is 103kg lighter than Duster when comparing Alpha vs Rxz(opt).
Do we come to same conclusion about S-Cross as well?

So do we conclude that if a product is priced high, it is a better one? Then one should have no qualms buying the 1.6 S-Cross for it should be very well made as it is obscenely priced I am sure your intentions are well but can't help seeing a little bias towards the car that you own.

The Baleno is inside 4M length and carries engines that are given excise cuts as well. There was no reason to price it higher.

I hope the Baleno, Brio, Jazz and i20 are the next set of cars to be crash-tested, to put this to an end totally. Incidentally Hyundai never revealed the weight of Creta during its launch (it was a big mystery among the forum members) and its i10 & Grand i10 failed the crash tests handsomely. But somehow, the weight of rear doors seems to be safe guarding them from backlash

[Hammy]

My thought of MSIL being a "tin can car manufacturer" has grown exponentially after I saw the Baleno in flesh today.

MSIL has shortchanged us and clearly cheating the Indian consumers. The build quality is really light which can be easily judged when you open/close the doors and feel the weight of the bonnet whilst lifting. The interior plastic quality for example on the dash or door pads looks recycled material which is polished to me. Does Maruti think we are fools out here? Its high time Maruti realizes we are not in the 90's. We have so many Global Manufacturers in the Indian market now offering quality products.

Before you make a booking please get a feel of the new Figo, Elite i20, VW Polo and Baleno back to back and you'd know what I mean here. Will the car of same standards be exported to the other markets too? I seriously doubt Suzuki would do so.

[abhik897]

My first post on team-bhp. Many thanks to the moderators for approving my membership.
I have been in the market for nearly 6 odd months to change my near decade old work-horse, my Alto 800 with a new petrol car. Patiently waited for the launch of the new Jazz, found it to be too expensive and the petrol mill was a big disappointment to drive at low revs. The new Aspire 1.2 litre also didn't inspire much fun. Came out with similar feeling for the elite I20 to add to the lifeless steering it has. Felt the Xcent to have better low end torque as compared to the I20 but didnt like the overall package even though the discounts on the car as on date are really tempting. In a nutshell, I had test driven each and every car in the market in the Rs. 6 - 9 lakh (on-road, Mumbai) I had kept my purchase decision at bay for the Baleno to make my final decision.

Enter baleno, and it instantly ticked all my needs (safety paramount, good spacious interiors, capability to seat 5, good petrol engine and good features). Each of the reviews from ndtv, autocar etc consistently praised the petrol mill and I instantly knew that this could be a winner if MSIL prices sensibly (and not like the S-Cros). Before the prices were announced, I felt that the delta and zeta which were pretty much loaded could be directly pitted with the Sportz and Asta trim of I20, V and VX trim of the Jazz, Titanium and Titanium plus version of the Aspire with the Alpha trim to be the costliest of the entire lot.
From my side, I had shortlisted the Delta and Zeta trim. I went ahead and gave the pre-booking amount of Rs. 11000/- with Nexa Andheri West on Dussherra

Come Oct 26, and the prices were an absolute shocker to the say the least. Confirmed the Alpha trim. Price OTR is 8.37 including extended warranty.

Eagerly waiting for the team-bhp review

[sidindica]

Few pics of the car in red and orange. Not really a fan of the rear chrome garnish. Looks tacky to the core.

[sou_3749]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

Just compared the Duster and S-Cross on Carwale. S-Cross is 103kg lighter than Duster when comparing Alpha vs Rxz(opt).
Do we come to same conclusion about S-Cross as well?

So do we conclude that if a product is priced high, it is a better one? Then one should have no qualms buying the 1.6 S-Cross for it should be very well made as it is obscenely priced I am sure your intentions are well but can't help seeing a little bias towards the car that you own.

The Baleno is inside 4M length and carries engines that are given excise cuts as well. There was no reason to price it higher.

I hope the Baleno, Brio, Jazz and i20 are the next set of cars to be crash-tested, to put this to an end totally. Incidentally Hyundai never revealed the weight of Creta during its launch (it was a big mystery among the forum members) and its i10 & Grand i10 failed the crash tests handsomely. But somehow, the weight of rear doors seems to be safe guarding them from backlash

I think I am being misunderstood here. Since you have raised the question of bias for owning the car, let me clarify.

I never said duster is bad, rather I see Duster to be better.
I never said if a car is priced high, it has to offer better built. But questions will be raised if you put a premium price tag in a premium showroom without having a sturdy build quality.
When we compare baleno with i20 or jazz does it feel solid? Nobody is asking to provide german build, but how can you justify positioning the car as premium when the basic premium features(build and finish) are missing. I am not giving a judgement here, but this is what I feel.

I didn't buy creta that doesn't mean I don't like it. You can check my other posts in s-cross threads and you will find how biased I am towards s-cross. You can call me biased, but I will still say S-Cross by far the better product from maruti in recent times and I expected Baleno to exceed it.

Baleno is a fantastic attempt and can still make it to our garage. But, we can't just praise it for it's shortcomings.

I think we should keep opinions as personal view points and not question on intention/bias. Peace

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by Hammy

My thought of MSIL being a "tin can car manufacturer" has grown exponentially after I saw the Baleno in flesh today.

The build quality is really light which can be easily judged when you open/close the doors and feel the weight of the bonnet whilst lifting. The interior plastic quality for example on the dash or door pads looks recycled material which is polished to me.

Sorry but I never thought one can judge the build quality by how the doors open and close.

Originally Posted by sou_3749

Your observation is bang on. Checking out another car in a different showroom won't make the car solid

One thing for sure, maruti will never compromise on margin(read profit). It can lower the quality in order to come to a unbelievable price.

Has anybody guessed 4.99 starting price???

It's the very same reason why they couldn't price s-cross any lower. Because it's not compromised on quality compared to the international version.

Actually none of the Auto manufacturers in India are NGO / NPO, so each one out there will not compromise on margins. In fact, it is for the margins that they offer us a car in the first place, no?

Why expect every ounce of quality and then also the price points so lower. For the price that it is offered at, it has far better quality interiors. spending 30-50k more than swift and you get much much better quality plastics, ABS & Airbags and some more. Compare it to the Grande i10, and it is much bigger, much more spacious, decent interiors, ABS & Airbags, for what? a paltry 30k more.


And I never understood the logic of using the kerb weight of the cars to gauge how safe they are. By that measure, the Ambassadors would be more safer than most cars out there. But it doesn't work that way.
These are new launches and Suzuki would not want them to sell only for 2-3 years by when the new crash test rules will start applying to old cars. So these must have been designed keeping those in mind (Since Maruti is not an NGO, they would always plan long term)

PS: I am not a Maruti fan boy. In fact I hated all their offerings till date, including the swift. But I quite like the Baleno for what it offers.

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by sou_3749

I think I am being misunderstood here. Since you have raised the question of bias for owning the car, let me clarify.

I never said duster is bad, rather I see Duster to be better.
I never said if a car is priced high, it has to offer better built. But questions will be raised if you put a premium price tag in a premium showroom without having a sturdy build quality.

When we compare baleno with i20 or jazz does it feel solid? Nobody is asking to provide german build, but how can you justify positioning the car as premium when the basic premium features(build and finish) are missing. I am not giving a judgement here, but this is what I feel.

Baleno is a fantastic attempt and can still make it to our garage. But, we can't just praise it for it's shortcomings.

I think we should keep opinions as personal view points and not question on intention/bias. Peace

The Baleno starts at 4.99L with two airbags and ABS/EBD as standard and a few other features as well in the interiors. Granted that it might miss out on certain creature comforts being the base variant. But telling this as premium pricing is taking the mickey.

Since you went into comparing weights and prices to deem a product to be premium, I had to quote what I did.

The Jazz, i20 and now the Baleno offer a better package than their other hatchback cousins and that I feel is the only reason to term it premium hatchback.
Frankly I don't see anything wrong in calling Baleno premium if Hyundai decides to brand the i20 as Elite.

I understand that you are simply giving your viewpoints and it is indeed valuable coming from a S-Cross owner but we might need to hold our horses about the weight issue until we get to know the details of how it was achieved.

Since it is specifically stated that the design philosophy was towards a light weight machine, I am inclined to believe it than doubt it for being unsafe.

Peace!

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

I'm confused as hell now and royally confused. After checking out the Baleno, I headed out to the Hyundai showroom to check out the Xcent and that oozed quality with the way the doors closed and the likes.

There are two possibilities of your above statement: 1. If Xcent oozed quality in comparison to Baleno then the Baleno's quality is comparable to Omni.
2. You were expecting a Merc but it was nowhere near it.

[invidious]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

There are two possibilities of your above statement: 1. If Xcent oozed quality in comparison to Baleno then the Baleno's quality is comparable to Omni.
2. You were expecting a Merc but it was nowhere near it.

The Baleno has a better paint job. But the quality of plastics is definitely better in the Xcent as is the fit and finish. It is a close call.

[ubermeow]

Originally Posted by petrol_power

Polo never showed itself as a premium hatchback like the way Baleno was advertised.

And that is why I think MS sucks big time. They had especially created the NEXA showrooms to create an impression or better it is all an illusion. I have been to the showroom on three different occasions and have come out that the staff are under informed and under trained on many counts, to say the least. They are not good talkers either, infact, one feels that a regular MS showroom salesperson has been asked to wear suit-boot and then go for the kill. Does it work in this day and age?? Just by carrying I-pads doesn't not slot them in any higher category, heck, even restaurant waiters carry I-pads to take orders.....

Sorry for the rant, but this is precisely why VW and some others score. They have people who are better trained and communicative enough to entice you for their products. It is right that VW polo or any other of their models never advertised themselves as premium products, because, internationally VW is not considered a premium brand. For that, they have AUDI!

So this forced premium-ness on part of MS will cost them very dearly when all the other manufacturers start to respond in kind. Sorry, but no sorry, Baleno is just the new SWIFT and nothing more!!