By Paul Gover.
Among the baby brands in Australia, Suzuki has always managed to stand tall.
The latest example is the Jimny, a shrunken Jeep look-a-like that manages to be an inner-city commuter and an off-road escapee at the same time.
Waiting times for the Jimny already reach out for six months into 2020, with no sign of supply matching demand through the coming year.
The Baleno, though, is different.
It’s pitched into a class where competition is tough and consumers are looking for something new and different. Like the Jimny.
Overall demand in the class, which is a hotbed of competition led by the Mazda2 and Honda Jazz, is falling fast and will only continue to slide once tiddler SUVs like the all-new Hyundai Venue get into top gear.
What does that leave the Baleno? Hmm, not in a good place.
It’s a conventional little hatchback with a 1.4-litre petrol engine, no turbo for the motor and a four-speed automatic gearbox that is a gear short of par these days. Suzuki deliberatly chose to upgrade to the four-cylinder motor for the GLX model, which is the premium Baleno with the equipment expected for something edging up towards $20,000.
It looks good and is very nicely built, by a brand which has a reputation for some of the best quality – and lowest warranty claims – of any Japanese brand.
But scratch the surface and you find a car that’s got lots of cheap hard plastics, as well as a cabin that’s a tough cramped and nowhere near as trendy and involving as a Honda Jazz.
The GLX test car comes in at $18,990 and that is getting a little costly although still nowhere near the $22,670 of the Toyota Yaris.
Baleno driving is easy and frugal, as the digital readout reports overall economy of just 5.6 litres/100km during my drive, which takes in penty of stop-start city work but also time on freeways and in the country.
It also gets along pretty well, provided you flick the switch on the shift lever that disengages the overdrive in the gearbox and becomes a defacto ’sport’ mode. Otherwise the four-speed must be a compromise, and Suzuki has chosen economy over any sort of basic sports response.
Suspension is fine for the class, same for the braking, but the car is missing the high-tech safety systems of higher-priced and slightly bigger small cars.
The headlights are LED and both a surprise and surprisingly good, it’s also quiet and would make a fine short-haul commuter.
But the Baleno is shaded by its direct rivals, in a showroom class where buyers are spoiled for choice and deals.
THE BASICS
Suzuki Baleno GLX
Price: from $18,990
Power: 68kW/130Nm
Position: entry-level hatchback
Plus: frugal, reliable, headlights, economy
Minus: bland, four-speed auto
THE TICK: No
