We review the Suzuki Baleno from price to economy and all its features

THE car you see here is the new Baleno from Suzuki.

In Italian, “baleno” means lightning. In French, it means baby whale.

That’s two extremely different things. Lightning is impressive, powerful and ferociously fast.

A baby whale is lumbering, helpless and, well, a bit ugly.

The Baleno is not ferociously fast and powerful but neither is it lumbering and ugly.
What it is, though, is another supermini in Suzuki’s already impressive line-up, joining the Swift and the Celerio.

Some might think having three city cars on the roster is overkill, but here’s Suzuki’s thinking: people who buy the Swift buy for emotional reasons — fashion, style, fun — and Celerio buyers are rational, looking for practicality.

The Baleno, it says, is bang in the middle of the two.

As PR guff goes, it’s actually pretty accurate.

Suzuki is nothing if not shrewd when it comes to targeting its audience

The supermini sector is the biggest-selling car market and we lap them up in the UK.
So having too many is near impossible and Suzuki is nothing if not shrewd when it comes to targeting its audience.

Seeking out the middle ground is not such a silly idea.

The personality of the Baleno comes from its rather impressive engine — the three-cylinder, one- litre turbo “Boosterjet”.

Tiny and economical, but bags of fun, it kicks out 111bhp — more than the entry level power of any of its rivals. And it comes as standard.

It’s sprightly and engaging, with a pleasing little punch out of corners and a satisfying rasp from the three cylinders. Inside, Suzuki has wasted money on unnecessary console functions such as a torque and G-force measure, but they are on a pleasing digital display which wouldn’t look out of place in a more expensive car.

Best of all, it comes with Apple Play, which includes satnav as standard.

Now the practicality. It’s got lots of space, with a 320-litre boot, and at four metres long it’s roomier than the mega-mini Celerio.

That same fun engine is also keeping the eco-police happy, returning 62.8mpg on a combined cycle and producing 105g/km. But, and this is just my opinion, it looks boring. So with that in mind, Suzuki has done what it set out to achieve.

a fun drive with some attractive flourishes

It has delivered a fun drive with some attractive flourishes, housed inside a car your gran would approve of and will cope with the school run, Friday big shop or half-term road trip.
It’s the automotive example of fence-sitting and as soon as it goes on sale on June 1, Suzuki can legitimately claim to be the king of small, affordable motors.

But don’t buy the Baleno without considering the Celerio and the Swift. You might find you don’t want to sit on the fence.