[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Vulken Auto

Did any one realize Baleno rs is no more on nexa website. This cut is definitely a clearance sale.

It's still there. After the facelift, it didn't feature as a separate model but was clubbed with the Baleno.

Link: https://www.nexaexperience.com/balen...lement_submenu

[Vulken Auto]

My bad, before it was on the front page. Thanks for the page and where is the pricelist?

[romeomidhun]

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/aut...stock/1719288/

The reason for the price cut - model is discontinued!

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by volkman10

This engine is also used/ were used in EU and other developed markets, so why does it become difficult to make it BSVI compliant ?

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Whether its a rumour, or volumes related decision or something else, only time and Maruti can tell.

All of Maruti's decisions are volume driven since a decade now. Be it the Jimny launch or the SCross1.6 discontinuation. A little blip here and there & out goes the product.

Its certainly not difficult to make the BS6 compliant. It was anyway sold in placed with norms equal or even more stringent than BS6. Maruti simply calculated even the tiny investment required for that, isn't worth it. They can do RS sticker jobs on any car & sell it even with K10, K12, K14 engines. People will buy in the numbers that are sufficient for the management to get ESOP returns. Enthusiasts have to look for other badges than the S.

Selling a small % of volumes with BJ engine still needs the following -

• Spares
• Trained workforce
• Assembly line
• OEM suppliers for in-life support
• Suppliers' committed volume delivery targets vis a vis car sales
• Service station capability to maintain such low volume cars

Evidently since a while, Maruti believe these bits are justified only when cars sell upwards of 10k per month. Cars like Swift, Ignis, WagonR, Celerio, Ciaz, Baleno, Brezza have been built with common hearts. Net volume is a combination of these. BoosterJet is an odd one. Little volumes.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by volkman10

This engine is also used/ were used in EU and other developed markets, so why does it become difficult to make it BSVI compliant ?

My hunch is that the UK was the only market where the Indian made RHD Baleno was sold in the Boosterjet configuration. When that got scrapped, they had only India as the other market which might not have made Maruti so interested in continuing the production of this variant. Given their latest disinterest in any performance oriented cars, the RS would have been their least priority and hence got axed. I believe given the advanced nature of the K10C, they could have easily got it to BS6 configuration, when they could do it for the age old F8 engine on the Alto. It is just that they are not interested in doing so.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by audioholic

My hunch is that the UK was the only market where the RHD Baleno was sold in the Boosterjet configuration. When that got scrapped, they had only India as the other market which might not have made Maruti so interested in continuing the production of this variant. Given their latest disinterest in any performance oriented cars, the RS would have been their least priority and hence got axed. I believe given the advanced nature of the K10C, they could have easily got it to BS6 configuration, when they could do it for the age old F8 engine on the Alto. It is just that they are not interested in doing so.

The Baleno ( K10C) is also sold in the Japanese market.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by volkman10

The Baleno ( K10C) is also sold in the Japanese market.

Is it exported from India? Sorry, I forgot to phrase my sentence, that the exports to RHD market was mainly to UK?

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Is it exported from India? Sorry, I forgot to phrase my sentence, that the exports to RHD market was mainly to UK?

Yes. Made in India Baleno is exported to Japan.

[YashD]

To be honest, Maruti's attempt with boosterjet hasn't been good enough. The difference between K Series Baleno & Boosterjet wasn't that vast to attract enough buyers. The GT TSi sells in good numbers because of the 1.2 TSi DSG Combo and from a consumer point of view, it seems a much better deal to me. Furthermore, cars like Freestyle, Figo & even the i20 diesel feels so much better if one wants a Manual powerful car. So, the Boosterjet in my opinion never had that oomph factor which one expects from a Hot hatch.
Heck! I won't even call it a hot hatch.


Maruti needs to understand that if they really want to create a niche they need to do something exciting which will obviously not get volume but a lot of fan following. Say a product like Jimny would work wonders for it as a brand building exercise. We know the fan following of Gypsy & Thar! The only clear attempt by MS was S-Cross 1.6 but as Leoshashi said, the low volume weren't the only reason. I've also heard a few owners having turbo issues in the car moreover it was a proper highway cruiser, the MS team didn't tune it well hence driving it in everyday traffic with that heavy turbo lag was quite cumbersome to say the least.

Moreover now, if Koreans can bring in their powerful GDis (1.0 Turbo & 1.4 Turbo) then I can safely assume there is indeed a market for performance vehicles to some extent in India and even the normal buyer wouldn't mind spending extra for a little more fun behind the wheel especially when it's offered from a reliable manufacturer. Yes! Auto Enthusiasts are less but India still has a healthy number of consumers who likes to drive or enjoys a vehicle so saying that the market is limited when the competition is doing good business out of it would be wrong.

It's just that Maruti is like that old man who won't give up on it's ideology irrespective of the change in generation. They will be volume driven, they will shove in sub standard product and they know people will accept it as they've the biggest portfolio under the 10 Lakh range. Also, they know they cannot penetrate the premium segments now and have accepted it. So, they have limited themselves to volume and focus more on "Kitna Deti Hai" rather than performance cause well that's what MS buyers wants as for everything else we have many other options. One last thing, I just hope Maruti wakes up from their dream world and realise the hit it's taking else the day isn't far when it's market share hits the bottom.

[PrideRed]

At this price, one can buy RS at the price of regular 1.2mill, and its a steal. You get mod friendly turbo motor which has more power from factory and all round disc brakes! Might not feel fast but I recall on track it was faster than Polo GT(or Punto don't recall) and also has faster acceleration to 100 than Polo. Only downside is availability of spares since Maruti is planning to cease production.

[fhdowntheline]

Having test driven the Baleno RS and eventually settled on the Polo GT TSI, I can safely say that Baleno RS is more sprightly, eager through the gears than the regular Baleno or Ignis 1.2 /I20 /Jazz. I’d say it’s the best affordable fast manual hatch to drive other than the Abarth Punto ( speaking only of petrols here). But the GT TSI a notch ahead and slots itself just short of the Abarth ,purely because of the DSG magic .

[marutifan]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

That can pave way for a lot of exciting models. Swift 1.0, 1.4(aka sports), Brezza 1.0, S Cross 1.0 and 1.4, Upcoming mid size SUV etc.

Please don't tease.

A 1.4 TC petrol engine in the S-Cross would have had both Kia and MG on the ropes.

It's mind boggling that they utterly failed to respond to the Creta, and even today, leave us with no choice but to take our hard earned money elsewhere if we want a petrol car with decent performance and a suv form factor

How many of us would have happily bought a linea T-jet if it was offered by Maruti?

Maruti lost the plot here and the success of the new entrants is even more damning. For their sheer stupidity, lack of foresight and failure to read the Indian market, the top management at maruti should be fired.

[Romeo_Mike]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

So this is stock clearance sale most probably. Had also read about reports of Baleno being discontinued in some country(was it UK?).

Yes Suzuki is pulling the Baleno and the Celerio from the UK; apparently these models aren't doing very well over there. Looks to me like a stock clearance sale for the boosterjet too.

Originally Posted by ram87pune

So Maruti launched the S Cross with the enthusiast friendly 1.6 Multijet and then discontinued it citing lack of response from the customers. Same thing is maybe happening here.

This had something to do with economics as well. The 1.6 MJD was sourced fully built from Fiat i/o being license built at Maruti's own plant which drove up the cost. Then there was the post launch price correction which likely made offering the 1.6 MJD even more unviable. Also IIRC, Maruti had already started development of their own 1.5 D when the S-Cross came out making the 1.6 a stopgap arrangement at best. I am surprised the company has still not mated the 1.5D to the S-Cross though. One would imagine the s-cross would be the most deserving model in the carmaker's stavle for a more powerful heart.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

While the DDiS 320 was a genuine attempt by Maruti to bring some options to the table, the Baleno RS happened only because they were already importing engines from Japan for export models. Back in those days, Baleno had some crazy waiting period and they looked at this opportunity to get some extra volumes and profit(whichever way you wish to think). If they were genuinely interested in providing fun/option to the customers, they would have launched Swift and Brezza along with this engine way back. Look how they are suffering due to lack of petrol engines in the Brezza.

This proves the Baleno RS happened because it was already in production for other markets and didn't need any special investment.

Aha now this throws more light on why the RS turned out the way it did. Performance variants are a very niche market. Maruti missed a trick by stopping short of providing the RS a good handling package. This one aspect would have made it a serious player. This is one area where the RS was handicapped in really capturing the perfromance enthusiasts market.

A second issue was that the regular Baleno was such a good package. The K12 engine is one of the best petrol engines in it's class and the RS does not provide all that much more value to a regular buyer. This has to be seen in relation to the Polo TSI and the regular Polo 1.0L MPI petrol whose figures are uninspiring. Next to that the Polo TSI is a venerable white knight and the value proposition in comparison is much stronger. Doesn't take much for a capable salesman to push a potential MPI buyer into the TSI.

Everything said and done I am glad i picked up the RS and that too the first version. The face lift of the RS to me doesn't look as good as the first version.

I too, hope that Maruti retains the GDI engine in other models. The era of turbo petrols has arrived.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[AMG Power]

Baleno RS discount now increased to 1.5 lakhs


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