Maruti Suzuki Baleno is a very popular car in India. In fact, it is the best-selling premium hatchback in the country. The Maruti Baleno was first launched in India in October 2015. Since then, it has been setting the sales chart on fire. But, recently Hyundai has launched the new third-gen i20 and it is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor and it might affect the sales of Baleno. So, to take on the new i20, Maruti Suzuki has teased the new Baleno. Is it the new Baleno RS or a Special Edition model is coming soon?
Maruti Suzuki has teased the new Baleno on its social media handles. The company has posted a video on NEXA's Facebook page that reads 'The Bold is ready to Dazzle. A Big Surprise is Coming Soon!' So, what this surprise can be? Let's make some speculations. If you remember, a few weeks ago, a pre-facelift Maruti Baleno was spied on test in India. However, that test mule was wearing newly updated alloy wheels and rumours suggest that it had the powerful 1.0-litre BoosterJet petrol engine under its hood that too in the BS6-compliant avatar.
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So, is the hot-hatch Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS making a comeback in the BS6 avatar? This might be possible as the Baleno RS was quite popular in India, especially among the auto geeks and enthusiasts. Also, in recent times, the craze of turbo petrol engines in small cars have soared high and so Maruti could re-introduce that petrol engine. It is worth mentioning that the new i20 also gets a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine that churns out 120 PS of power and 172 Nm of peak torque. If Maruti launches the Baleno RS, it will be the arch-rival of the new i20 Turbo.
The Baleno RS was launched in India in March 2017 and it even got a mid-life facelift in 2019. However, it was discontinued earlier this year. It was powered by a 1.0-litre BoosterJet petrol motor that used to churn out 101 PS of maximum power and 150 Nm of peak torque. The engine was mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. Currently, the 2020 Baleno gets two BS6-compliant engines. The first one is a 1.2-litre K12B petrol motor that churns out 83 PS of power at 6000 RPM and 113 Nm of torque at 4200 RPM. It comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox and a CVT.
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The other mill is a 1.2-litre K12C Dual-Jet petrol engine. This motor delivers 90 PS of power at 6000 RPM and 115 Nm of torque at 4400 RPM. It comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox only. This K12C motor gets Maruti's advanced smart hybrid technology too. The teased Maruti Baleno could also be a special edition model of the car as recently the Baleno has achieved the 8 lakh sales milestone in India. Whatever it is, we will get to know in a few days. What are your guesses? Do share with us in the comments section below. You can also join our 91Wheels Auto Enthusiast group (click via mobile to join) curated exclusively for the fans, enthusiasts and the owners. Further, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more such amazing motoring updates.
