2022 Suzuki Baleno Teased In India With Restyled Front, New Tech

Suzuki dropped a teaser of the facelifted Baleno which is already available for pre-orders in India. The current generation of the small hatchback was introduced back in 2015 based on Suzuki’s Heartect platform, and it received its first facelift in 2019 which means that the 2022 update will be its second one.

The teaser is dark but we can see a redesigned front end with sharper styling, and new LED headlights reminiscent of the ones on the Toyota Corolla sedan. The bumper is more sculpted and the grille has a chrome strip for a more “premium” look. Similar updates are expected for the rear end with new taillights and a fresh bumper design. Inside, the updated Baleno will be the first model in the segment with a head-up display. The latter was previewed in a photo showing the speedometer, the tachometer, the selected gear, and the time.

The addition of a simple head-up display unit will be one of the tech-focused updates in the 2022 Suzuki Baleno

Mechanically, the car is expected to retain the mild-hybrid 1.2-liter Dualjet petrol producing 89 hp (66 kW / 90 PS), and the ICE-only 1.2-liter producing 82 hp (61 kW / 83 PS) in the current model. Power will be sent to the front axle through a five-speed manual transmission, while there is also a rumored addition of a new automatic gearbox that will replace the old CVT option. As for the turbocharged 1.0-liter Boosterjet engine and the 1.25-liter turbodiesel, they have both been discontinued from the Suzuki range due to stricter emission regulations.

Speaking about the upcoming model, Shashank Srivastava, head of Marketing and Sales of Maruti Suzuki India, said it is “dynamically crafted to fulfill the needs of a tech-savvy generation”, adding that it will offer “superior in-car technology, expressive design, and class-leading safety”. We hope that the technological updates will include more safety tech as standard since the base version of the existing model recently scored zero stars in Latin NCAP tests. In India and Latin America, the Baleno comes standard with two airbags instead of the six airbags of the European specification.

Watch Also: Suzuki Baleno Gets Zero Stars In Latin NCAP Tests, Brand Allegedly Refused To Test Optional Safety Equipment

The 2019 facelift (up) versus the 2022 facelift (bottom) of the Suzuki Baleno

The Baleno was discontinued from UK, Europe, and Japan in 2019 and 2020, but sales are still strong in India where the model is being produced at the Gujarat plant by Maruti Suzuki. According to Shashank Srivastava, the Baleno has over 1 million happy owners, and is consistently present in the top 5 best-seller charts in India.

People that are interested in the 2022 Suzuki Baleno can pre-order it in India with a deposit of ₹11,000 ($147). While Suzuki hasn’t given us a reveal date, we suspect that it won’t be too long in the future with local media suggesting the debut will take place in late February. Since 2019, the Suzuki Baleno has had a sibling, in the form of the rebadged Toyota Glanza in India, also known as Toyota Starlet in Africa.